Welcome to My Nightmares
by HPandPJnerd19568
Summary: Sometimes, Gods would watch Demi-Gods. And sometimes, a Demi-God was chosen. Well, in those sometimes, Gods did everything they could to protect their chosen. Sometimes, the God didn't survive. And in these cases, sometimes, bad things happened to the chosen. Percy Jackson was always a lucky one, wasn't he? Rated for gore and murder-y themes. No Percy/Luke, but slight Percy/Jason.
1. Chapter I

MWHAHAHAHAHA I OWN PERCY JACK-  
Wait...*Looks over shoulder to people behind curtains* What do you mean Rick didn't sign? Well, obviously we wasn't going to be giving it away. You used torture, right? ...You mean, he's _impervious_ to feels? Of course he fucking is. *Sigh*  
Fine. I don't own it.

Right. Hello! I am author I shall be your server today. May I recommend the feels?  
This is my first attempt at an actual, really long story. And I'm hoping it works out.

Full summary: Sometimes, major and minor Gods alike would watch Demi-Gods. Sometimes, a Demi-God would be chosen. If you're chosen, then you're protected. Well, sometimes, Gods did everything they could to protect their chosen. And sometimes, the God didn't make it out alive. And in these cases, sometimes, bad things happened to the chosen. And Percy Jackson was always a lucky one, wasn't he?

This should be updated every Tuesday and Thursday. With hope.

 _Let's get it started in hah, let's get it started in here_

 ** _Chapter I_**

 **The guy Has Goat Leg's and Your Mom Goes 'Poof!'**

The young man stumbled to his feet, still wheezing slightly from getting the wind knocked out of him. Grover tried to pull him back, weirdly hairy hands latching onto his clothes and limbs, but he batted his best friend away. He went through the archway again, half expecting for it to light up again, trapping him inside, but he passed through as though nothing was there. His mother was a bubbling mess, tears streaming down her face even as she pushed him back gently, urging him to go through the archway again, to safety. He refused to leave her, even as the beasts steps made the ground under their feet rumble, as though a small earthquake was happening.

Mother and son looked up as the beast came into view, towering over them and snorting through its nose, shaking its head violently. It roared in fury, stomping one leg before charging, much like the animal it mimicked.

The minotaur roared, charging them. He lurched to the side, pulling his mother with him. The creature ran into the barrier, and bounced off, landing on his back as it hit the ground with a vibrating _thump_.

He got to his feet unsteadily, pulling out the bronze ballpoint pen he had been given by one of his handicapped teachers. His eyes flickered from the beast, which was slowly getting onto its feet, using his horns to get him off, back to the seemingly harmless pen. Chrion had said it held great power.

Wondering if whether it was himself or his teacher that was insane, he slowly uncapped the pen, staring at the monster which had just gotten to its feet. He pushed his mother out of the way, and squared his shoulders and firmed his stance as he held the pen in his hands.

He didn't have to wait long before something happened. Just as he uncapped it, the pen turned into a glittering bronze sword with some engraving that he didn't bother to look at at the moment. He stared at it in shock, looking back at his mother to make sure she was seeing this as well. When all he got was blinking, he continued to stare at his hands in shock.

He looked back up as the ground started to thump and vibrate under his feet yet again. The minotaur was charging. He looked around himself wildly, seeing if it was even possible to use his surroundings to his advantage at the moment, seeing as the surrounding area was mostly made out of trees, bushes, and more trees, besides the arch where he dimly noted Grover not stood in front of, hopping slightly on his hooved feet.

He looked at the tree immediately behind him. He looked back at the minotaur, and at the tree again, his mind working furiously. The minotaur charged, and he shuffled on his feet, hardly stopping himself from wildly jumping as soon as the thing face him. It ran, coming closer and closer to him. When it was mere feet away from its bowed head, horns about to pierce his skin, he jumped out of the way, rolling as he covered his head with his arms. He looked up as he stopped, and loud _crunch_ and _crack_ following quickly after his leap.

The minotaur had one horn stuck in the tree. The monster tugged on it harshly, and it cracked and separated from its head with a painful roar, staying lodged in the tree, sticking out at a sharp point. The minotaur seemed to be enraged, even more so than before. He screamed and roared, one hoofed hand coming around and whacking a steadily rising newly found Demi-God.

He groaned as he was hurtled towards a tree, landing against it and sliding down with a sickening crunch. He blinked blearily, noting that he had landed against the same tree the minotaur's horn was stuck in. He got up, groaned and clutching his side. He thought he felt a broken rib somewhere in there.

He looked up, blinking, choking on his breath at the sight before him. His mother screamed as she was picked up, and he staggered to his feet, breathing harshly as he watched in horror, helpless to do anything. The minotaur squeezed his screaming mother with both hands, and she vanished in a poof of gold dust, raining down gently to coat the ground and the monsters hands.

He felt tears trail down his dirty and bloody face, and a sob clogged his throat. The minotaur went for him next, and he dodged out of the way. It charged again, hitting the tree he had been leaning against harmlessly, if not for the tree falling down. While the minotaur was winded, he ran, jumping onto the creature's back and clinging, clawing his way up, latching onto the coarse hair until he reached the beasts furiously shaking head. He panted, fury and sorrow seeping through his veins, piercing his heart like a cold dagger as he raised his sword above his head, stabbing it harshly into the minotaur's head. The monster screamed, roaring in pain as he reared up, clawing at him. He hardly held on by the handle of the sword, blade stuck in the minotaur's head, where gold dust leaked out. He tugged and pulled on the knife, steering the beast so that he faced the tree where its broken horn was lodged.

The beast roared, and charged. He pulled the blade out of the minotaur's head as the monster tried to stop, but its own momentum carried it forward, into its own, sharply broken horn. The minotaur screamed as its head was penetrated by its own detached limb, and the Demi-God fell bonelessly to the ground, his best friend quickly hopping to his side as the minotaur evaporated in an explosion of gold dust, coating the tree, ground, and the clothes of both boys.

Grover picked him up, and half carried half dragged him to the archway. He heard the clattering footsteps and shouting voices, he saw a face appear above his head, smiling softly and concerned like.

"Hey, stay with us buddy. What's your name?" He asked in a soft voice, blond hair flopping into his eyes as he felt himself get shifted into the strangers strong arms.

"Percy." He mumbled, eyes falling closed softly. The last thing he saw was a head of blond hair, framing a handsome face with blue eyes and a scar running down his face. The stranger smiled softly.

"Hi, Percy. I'm Luke. Stay-" The rest cut off as Percy's world turned black and his body became limp in the arms of Luke.

* * *

Naturally, the following chapters will be longer. Don't worry. :D


	2. Chapter II

I know, I know, boring so far, right? Right. Plz don't leave? I promise it get's better! I think...

 ** _Chapter II_**

 **Welcome to Camp! You're Mom is Dead. Want Some Deadly Chocolate?**

Percy blinked his eyes open hazily, vision blurry as he shifted his sore neck so he could see his surroundings. He seemed to be laying in a small cot, with brown polyester curtains closing him in on all sides to form a small cubical. He could hear sounds around him, people talking and moving around. He attempted to shift slightly, and ended up groaning softly as pain alighted his nerves.

"You drool in your sleep. Did you know that?" A voice said suddenly, startling Percy as the curtains directly in front of him moved to let in a tall body with blond hair. Percy narrowed his eyes at the person. "Oh good, you recognize me." He said with a smirk. "Remember my name?" He asked lightly, handing Percy a glass of water.

Percy blinked up at him, taking the cold glass. He took a slow drink with tasted like heaven to his dry mouth as he thought. When he finished, he looked to the guy, now sitting casually on the chair that was located next to his bed.

"Luke." Percy said, eyes flickering up and down the others body. He was older than Percy by at least a few years, broad and well built, hair flopping in his face to partially cover blue eyes and a thin, vertical scar running down his face.

Luke smiled. "Good. And your Percy. Now, Percy...do you know where you are?" He asked, growing more serious as he continued, his playful smirk morphing as he shifted in his seat. Percy started to slowly shake his head, taking a sip of water, before he froze.

The monster. Grover. His mom…

Images of the car flipping over, brown dirt, trees and arch's fluttered behind his eyes. He remembered the glass cutting into his face and limbs as the car flipped and flipped, before it stopped, and Percy, Sally and Grover had to get out quickly. He remembered his mother telling him of his father...of who and what he was...who and what _Percy_ was...He remembered the monster, chasing him, picking up his mother just to squish her like she was a piece of paper, exploding in a shower of gold bust.

Percy remembered the minotaur dying from getting stabbed with Percy's pen-sword-thing, only to be later stabbed with its own detached horn.

Percy remembered getting dragged through the archway, getting shifted to Luke's arms and falling unconscious.

Percy blinked rapidly as he felt his eyes prickle. He ducked his head down, letting his hair cover his eyes. He didn't see Luke frown.

"Percy, I know it may be hard but you need to tell me what happened and what you know." Luke said gently, laying an oddly comforting hand on Percy's shoulder.

"Why?" Percy whispered, afraid that if he raised it any more it would crack and break. Sorrow pushed down on him from both sides, the memory of his mother turning into an explosion of dust replaying endlessly behind his eyes. He didn't want to verbalize it. That would make it too real. He didn't want to believe it, but he knew he had to. He had to be strong. For his mom.

"So we know how to better help you. We've already healed you as physically as we can, but we can't do anything else if we don't know." He spoke quietly.

Percy took a shuddering breath, feeling as though the sky was resting on his shoulders as he breathed outward.

"I know what I am. I know this is a safe place, for people like me. That...the thing, the min-min-the…"

"Minotaur."

"I know what the minotaur is...why it wanted me. I know who my...father, is." Percy said, breathing slowly as he did so. "My mother tried to protect me. It was chasing us when she was trying to take me here. It...it killed her, because she couldn't get through the arch...why couldn't she get through the arch?" Percy asked, voice cracking as he turned watery, accusing eyes on Luke. Luke felt horrible was the twelve year old stared up at him, betrayal evident, even though there was no real reason for it to be there in the first place. Why should Percy feel as though this person was responsible for everything that happened? Like Luke should have protected both him and his mother?

"She was mortal, Percy. Mortals aren't allowed inside." The blond said quietly, half-expecting the young man to have a mini tantrum in protest, but Percy remained silent, staring at his hands which continually fidgeted. Luke took a second to stare at the boy study the black, floppy hair, impossible eyes which couldn't seem to decided if they wanted to be green or blue as they raged with emotion, small, slightly chubby heart shaped face, and small hands, with a lean frame. He waited, giving the boy another second to break in and ask a question or scream, before he opened his mouth to ask his own.

But, he was interrupted by the curtain being drawn open again, emitting another blond, blue eyed Demigod, this one closer to Percy's age and shorter than Luke.

He smiled warmly at Percy as he walked in, a small clipboard in hand, despite wearing khakis and a white tank top with a red plus on it.

"Hi, I'm Will Solace. Percy, isn't it? Glad to see your finally awake, it's been a bit. Luke, you'll have to come a bit later, in an hour or so." He said, glancing up at the older Demi-God.

Luke nodded lightly, if not slightly disappointed as he stood. "I'll see you soon, Percy." He said with a nod, before walking out, brushing past Will. Will turned his full attention to him, and Percy did the same with his now wholly dry eyes.

Will grabbed something from his pocket, and handed it to Percy. It turned out to be a little plastic baggie, filled with what seemed to be chocolate. "I'll need you to take one of those, as well as a small glass of it a bit later on which I'll get later to make sure you're completely healed both inside and out. You've been out for a few days now, which-"

"Days?" Percy squeaked, looking up from the bag, which he had been slowly opening as he listened. His eyes almost popped out of his head. Will nodded slowly.

"Yes, Percy. Three days, actually." He said, as Percy fell back against the pillows, groaning slightly. "Take it easy there, champ. Oh, I'll need your last name." He added, frowning in concern as he moved to help Percy prop himself up properly on the pillows. Percy sighed in defeat.

Percy Jackson. My names Percy Jackson." He muttered, as he picked up one of the lumpy chocolates. Will nodded, and turned around to leave.

"Eat up! And don't eat any more than one, you'll turn to ash!" He called over his shoulder, and Percy snorted. Though, he stared at the piece for a second. Gods were real. Monsters were. It suddenly didn't seem as though chocolate that turned you to ash upon big doses wouldn't do such a thing. Looking at it worriedly, he popped the medium sized piece in his mouth, expecting the slightly bitter taste of chocolate, completely surprised when it ended up tasting almost identical to his mother's homemade cookies, which she always dyed blue special for him.

Percy felt himself fill once again with sorrow and longing as he stared at the baggie, placing it on the table next to him. He breathed deeply, sinking into the pillows as he breathed out. He allowed his head to loll to the side and closed his eyes as the painful memories washed over him.

* * *

The next day, Percy found himself sitting in the Hermes cabin, on his little sleeping bag on the floor, Luke sitting across from him and idly picking at his nails. Percy had been informed that until he was claimed by his godly parent, he'd be staying in the Hermes cabin, where all unclaimed Demi-God's went, do to Hermes nature as the God of Travelers.

Upon learning this, Luke seemed to sense the fear which had immediately sprung up in Percy. What if he was never claimed? When he hesitantly asked if such a thing had ever happened, Luke had begrudgingly admitted that yes, it had happened before, though it hadn't happened in a while, and it hadn't happened very frequently in the past.

Percy wasn't convinced, however. If something was going to happen that didn't seem likely to happen, he felt as though it would happen to him.

That was how he and Luke ended up here now, sitting on the floor together, clad in identical orange shirts. Percy expressed his fears to the older boy, finding him strangely and oddly comforting.

And this proved to be the right choice, for Luke, after a moment of silence as Percy waited for a response with baited breath, smiled softly.

"Have you ever heard of The Guardians?" Luke asked, a mischievous gleam in his blue eyes, only growing and expanding when Percy shook his head in confusion, not understanding how this related to the previous topic.

"Like...Guardian Angels?" Was Percy's confused guess. Luke snorted, and shook his head, a smile playing his lips.

"Not exactly. See, sometimes, some Gods, usually the more minor ones, will find a particular Demigod that they like. They're usually chosen from a young age, or birth even. It doesn't happen very often, for the nature of the God or Goddess in question tend to pass onto the Demi-God, and depending on their nature, that can be quite troublesome. But, it does happen, on occasion. When it does, the God often does whatever they can to protect this Demi-God, until they are no longer able to, or the Demi-God dies. Usually, the God goes into disguise to protect the Demi-God from a better position, as an ally or friend.

"Usually, the God will fight side-by-side with their chosen for as long as possible. They become extremely protective. I'll repeat myself; many Gods chose not to do this. Especially the bigger Gods. The stronger the God, the more their nature influences their chosen. But, when it does, the Demi-God in question is almost indestructible."

Luke used many hand gestures throughout his story, waving his arms about sporadically, causing Percy to smile as his fear started to wear away.

"What was the point in telling me that?" Percy finally asked softly, tilting his head in confusion as he looked up at the taller and older Demi-God.

Luke smiled pleasantly, as though he had been waiting for Percy to ask that. Then again, it was perfectly possible he had been.

"Perhaps, Percy, you have a Guardian watching over you." Luke said ominously, making Percy snort in amusement and Luke to rebuke in indignation. "It could happen! You never know!" He said in an attempt to convince Percy of the chance.

Percy just smiled in amusement, truly appreciating the Demi-Gods efforts to cheer him up. Luke had been successful, as well.

A sudden thought hit Percy suddenly, causing him to frown up at Luke. "What if a God dies?" He asked, almost in a hushed whisper. Luke frowned in thought, leaning back against a bedpost as he tapped his chin with his thumb.

"Well, it's rather hard to kill a God, but possible. Especially in Human form. They'd be reincarnated."

"Is there a way to kill a god without him being reincarnated?" Percy asked out of pure curiosity, and Luke smirked.

"Planning revenge there, Percy? As far as I'm aware, they can only be killed off while in battle. They're exceptionally weaker in human form as well, so if they were that would cause an easier death as well. Rather like the Hunters of Artemis. They're immortal, but can die in battle, and battle only. That's the only actual way I know of."

"What if a Guardian died in battle? Didn't you say that they changed to human form and helped out their chosen? Wouldn't that mean fighting alongside them, too?" Percy inquired, voice hushed, even though the cabin was empty besides them.

Luke frowned. "I'm not sure...it hasn't happened for a very long time...I think, sometimes, the powers get transferred from God to chosen Demi-God...I can't say for sure, however." Luke said, giving a helpless shrug, and Percy smiled slightly. He wondered if he did have a guardian. He doubted it.

The years at Camp Half-Blood passed in a chaotic mess. Percy witnessed many things, and did many things, which varied from fighting a giant monster made out of metal in a junkyard, getting turned into a guinea pig, and jumping off of the St. Louis Arch to avoid the mother of all monsters, Echidna, and her rabid chihuahua-Chimera mix. He even appeared on the God's version of cable TV once while trapped in an amusement park that had been abandoned. At least he knew the Gods had a good connection up in Olympus.

He even fought in a war at fifteen years old.

He didn't do all these things alone, of course not.

Luke stood by his side through it all. In his world of chaos and mayhem, Luke was a constant. always fighting by him, always doing his best to help and make sure Percy made it out alive, if not unscathed.

They went through countless fights together. When a traitor was hidden amongst the rest, Luke had been the one to figure out Jake Mason from the Hephaestus cabin had been the one behind it, allowing monsters entree into their camp and tipping off others when Demigods went on quests.

But the toughest battle had been the Battle of Manhattan.

It had truly been a battle of the Gods.

* * *

Chapters are short, you don't know if you wanna stick with this, I know how it goes. I understand. But hey, you got some information in there now. And then it'll be _tissues, computer lights,_ _ **action!**_


	3. Chapter III

Boring, short, yeah yeah yeah. Plz stay with me?

 _ **Chapter III**_  
 **Well...Shit. He's Dead. But at Least I Got My Cool Water Tornado. Weeeeeeeeeeeee**

The battle had started with Demigods and Gods working together. But the Gods could only fight for so long before they had to hand it over to the Demigods.

But with handing so much responsibility into such ill-equipped hands, even at the multitude that they had, it was truly a rigorous and challenging battle.

Percy found himself in the heart of it all, hiding behind turned-over school busses to reorganize himself and prepare for the next round. He panted heavily, sweat drenching his hair and making it fall into his face. He already sported several wounds, one of the more severe ones being where a Hellhound had grazed him with its giant claws.

Luke joined him only moments later, and Percy would have wondered how Luke had found him if Percy wasn't already so used to it happening. This had been happening for years now. 'Percy in danger, Luke find!' seemed to be his mindset. Not that Percy was complaining. It had saved his life countless times.

"Luke?"

"Yeah, Pearce?"

"If you die, I'll kill you." Percy murmured, glancing at the taller, older boys wounds with a wince.

Luke snorted. "You can't kill me."

"I can hurt you."

"Eh."

"Just...be careful, okay?"

"Course. I can't let you fend for yourself with nothing to help you. That would be a disaster."

Percy snorted, wincing as explosions when off around him. He sighed, banging his head against the school bus.

"We're gonna die…"

"No you're not. You know I won't let that happen." Luke said, waving it off as though it wasn't even a possibility while Percy just stared at him with a raised eyebrow. He wondered how most people would react to that. He was too used to it by now.

Percy sighed. "Well, let's go." He said, shaking his head and standing up, helping Luke up with him. "Let's go kick some Cyclops eye." With that, Percy charged with Luke following like the stupid people they were.

But, they put up a valiant fight, in the end. Slashing their way violently through monsters of all kinds as they slowly worked their way to the Manhattan tower. They were creeping alongside a lake when it happened.

A cyclops and a group of emposi teamed up on them. The emposi wouldn't be hard at all to handle, it was the cyclops alongside them that caused the problems.

Sweat dripped into their eyes, their torn clothes showing gaping holes or wounds in a grotesque manner. Percy had been tackling the emposi, who hissed and spit at him as he swung his sword, Anaklusmos, at them rapidly. Luke had always commented him on his skill. Said he would need it in the future, since he seemed to have the God of Mischief watching over him.

He wasn't wrong when he had said that. Truly, the worst of luck seemed to follow him like a shadow. He had started to wonder if his string had been difficult to knit, and so the fates had decided to roughly handle it, tarnishing it horribly.

But either way, the quickly-developed skills came very much in handy. But they only went so far. Percy struggled with all the emposi, the constant sounds behind him reminding him that Luke was taking on a full-grown cyclops behind him, and wouldn't last for long if Percy didn't at least contribute.

It took Percy two frighteningly long minutes to get them all to dust and come to a lapse of monster-income to be able to aid Luke. He turned around just in time, as the cyclops was picking Luke up. Percy lunged forward, stabbing the monster in the leg. The cyclops shouted, and ending up throwing Luke in the air with a pained cry.

Percy would never forget Luke's scream as he free-fell towards hard cement. Percy felt helpless and he dodged the cyclops and tried to figure out some way to save his only true friend.

But, alas, it wasn't within his power. Luke fell to the ground, landing his a sickening _crunch_. Percy felt his throat clog up as he stared at the dead body, blood flowing out from Luke's head, painting the blond hair red. _  
_

Percy felt an influx of an emotion he couldn't pin-point, but he later assumed it was anger. He stared up at the cyclops who was huffing, his vision painted red.

A truly animalistic scream left Percy's lips as he felt his power surging through him. His instincts took over, he felt as though he had no control in his own body as he was blinded by power.

His arms raised above his head, and the water in the lake behind them gathered rapidly, swirling and twirling in an unnatural tornado of New York murky lake water. The rapidly spinning waters gathered around Percy, shocking the cyclops still. Percy was soon lifted into the air, above the lake, a hundred feet above the ground. He surveyed the vast carnage and damaged with red-tinted vision, and felt a vindictive pleasure flood through him as he manipulated the water around him to crush the surrounding monsters. Luke's body flashed in front of his eyes as if on replay, and it was with a scream that echoed throughout the battle that the water rained down on the monsters in a deathly shower.

As Percy hovered in mid air, the water supporting him, sword raised in his hand, he felt the power leaving, slowly receding throughout his body. The water started to dissipate as fast as the monster's body, minus the golden dust shower.

Percy felt himself falling, falling, falling. Into the depths of the murky lake waters, landing with a thunderous sound and a violent splash. His world turned back as he watched the surface above him rapidly turn dark as he sunk lower and lower.

The odd power surge left his body, leaving him feeling helpless. But before he became totally unconscious, his eyes snapped open from their previously closed position, revealing startling, shining, poison green eyes. The water surged around him again and he was enclosed in a air bubble. He blinked around himself, only to feel the sand-dollar growing hot in his pocket and some weird creatures swimming up to him.

* * *

It was a bone-deep sorrow. It made his heart ache and his limbs feel like lead. Even as the battle finally came to an end, and he made his way wearily to the elevator that would take him to olympus, his friends by his side, he felt himself swaying, eyes closing as grief washed over him. He was numb to the people around him. Deaf to their voices.

Luke was dead. He was gone, never to come back. His best friend, killed so easily. How come it was such a shock to Percy? He should have known. People always get hurt around him. Luke certainly had. Not harshly, but he had been injured. Percy realized he had sort of thought that Luke couldn't die, in the back of his mind.

It was a childish thought, but Percy hadn't realized that it had been in his head all along until now.

It was only the light pulling to his arm that made him aware that they had reached olympus. He trudged up the steps, Annabeth tugging lightly at him arm encouragingly. As he stood in front of the Gods, he felt rage burning inside him. Bone-deep rage. If only they had helped out more. There would have been less monsters. The battle would have been won sooner. Less people would have been hurt. Less dead.

Luke might have survived.

But they hadn't. They had sat up here, watching, and beyond the grief his anger skyrocketed. He begrudgingly bowed when prompted, but he stood as quickly as he dipped, his head bowed and eyes set in a narrow line, surveying the thrones around him.

He hardly listened as the conversation went on around him, only contributing when he had too. He didn't care what was going on. He was tired, angry, depressed. His ears perked up slightly when he realized the Gods were giving out gifts, but that ceased to interest him once he reminded himself they couldn't bring anyone back.

What they were offering though, surprised him. Immorality. They were offering immorality. Instantly, Percy realized that no, he didn't wish for such a thing. But then he realized. Luke would have wanted him to take the chance. Would have wanted him to seize the offer with both hands.

It was with Luke in mind that he released a puff of air, straightened his back, and accepted the offer. Zeus raised his hand, and Percy closed his eyes in preparation.

In an instant, Percy felt something was wrong. His eyes snapped open, no longer sea blue, but a glowing, poisonous green. Zeus hadn't even lowered his hand yet. Percy fell to his knees, a small, sharp scream leaving him as pain engulfed him. He felt as though his brain was being pushed outward, as though it was being forced to expand way beyond it's natural size.

Percy clutched his head, curling into a ball as his head pounded. His body felt too small. He felt as though he was going to explode.

He crumpled to the ground, strength leaving him. He hardly heard the screams all around him, the worrying voices and panicked shouts. He wanted to laugh. Pathetic. They were scared, over him? He was fine. He was more than fine.

His eyes flickered open, watching the surrounding people. Oh, this was hilarious. They had gathered around him in a misshapen circle, the towering forms of the Gods watching from above. Annabeth was kneeling next to him, hands on his temples. Odd. He couldn't feel her hands. But that didn't matter.

He wanted to laugh. So he did. It was a deep, back-of-the-throat laugh, that startled everyone and caused Annabeth to fall back away from him, hands snatching back to her sides. He laughed harshly, arching off the floor and moving in sporadic, jerky movements. He finally struggled to his feet, giggles still leaving him, hands over his mouth and a killer grin stretching his face.

"Percy?" It was like water clogging his ears, but he was able to make out the words.

"YES?" He realized he didn't have to shout, but this was more fun, making them jump back, startled.

"What happened to his eyes?" He heard Athena murmuring behind him. His ears were fine now. In fact, he thought he could hear the sound of nymphs scattered behind the doors, running around, his ears were so attuned.

"MY EYES? WHAT'S WRONG WITH MY EYES? DO YOU NOT LIKE THEM, LADY WISEY? I THINK THEY HAPPEN TO BE QUITE THE PRETTY COLOR!" Percy shouted, laughing and giggling as he jumped around to face Athena. She stared at him with hard, narrowed eyes.

"Percy! What did you just call my mother?" Annabeth whisper-shouted at him.

"LADY WISEY. IT'S A NICKNAME, WISE GIRL. OR MAYBE OWLHEAD IS BETTER." Percy clutched his stomach, giggling yet again. He was making himself laugh. This was amazing. The shocked faces of all those around him were just too much. "What, do you not like nicknames, Annabeth?" Percy asked, smirk playing his features. The yelling was starting to hurt his throat, and he was getting bored of it anyways. "Maybe I should call you Anna now. Or maybe just Anne. Beth? What about Beth?"

"Percy, stop it! What happened to you?" Annabeth asked, reaching out to touch him and then pulling her hand back.

Percy jumped back away from her approaching hand anyways, skipping slightly. "Ah-ah-ah. No touchy. And lots of things, Annabeth. The only difference is that now that Luke is dead, well," Percy laughed. "I have _no. One. To. Stop. Me."_ Annabeth and those surrounding her, Thalia and Grover, took several steps back, a dark look casting shadows over Percy's face.

"Perseus! Stop this nonsense immediately!" Poseidon demanded, and Percy skipped around to face his father, an insane smile adorning his features once more.

"Ah, father dearest! How was it, sitting up here all nice and cosy while ALL THESE _CHILDREN_ RISKED THEIR LIVES, WHILE YOU SAT ON YOUR ASS _DOING_ _JACKSHIT_?" Percy shouted, and in a influx of power Poseidon was thrown off his feet and slammed into his throne, head knocking off the back of it with a loud, hollow sound. Percy snorted.

"You're all useless. You do nothing besides cause stupid power-wars. Grow up." Percy growled, twirling around smartly on his heel and walking quickly towards the exit.

"Percy! Stop!" Grover cut in, grabbing Percy's arm. Percy did stop, not wanting to hurt the satyr. "Percy, your eyes are bright green, and not their usual green. Like leaf green. You're not being you. What happened?" He spoke quietly, quickly, aware now that Percy's mood could change with a simple choice of words.

"I'm not entirely sure. I just know I have a lot of power now. And I like it. The Gods messed up. But I'll make sure that they pay for what they did. Eventually." Giggling, Percy pried his arm gently from Grover's grasp, and skipped out of the room, laughter growing and sounding more and more crazed with each note, before he vanished with a _woosh_ of air.


	4. Chapter IV

Yes? Yesssss? Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss.  
I think I enjoy writing this story too much.

 **Chapter IV**  
 **Your Hat is Soooooooooooo Lame. And Could You Get This Head to Stop Noming on Me? Thanks**

Funny. Percy had once considered dreams fickle. He had once regarded them as nothing more than entertainment for his sleeping mind. Now, he knew better. There was so much more to them. They were capable of _so much_. Every night, millions of people rested, dreaming. They could be imagining a million different, countless things. Endless possibilities! And it was funny how they thought their dreams were all their own. That no one else could possibly be privy to such a personal thing.

He found it hilarious how wrong they were. Oh, it was so much fun to walk amongst the unsuspecting mortals, sneaking into their subconscious thoughts, where anything was possible. Their deepest, darkest wish could become reality. A shameful lust could be seen in a completely acceptable light. They could elope with a sloth who favored wearing socks and live happily ever after.

And oh, how fun it was to toy with their little dreams. He couldn't describe how pleasing it was to see a happy, rainbow and vodka filled dream go to a dark, moonless night, lost in the woods, hungry creatures prowling about.

Though, he himself didn't like dreaming. It was boring. There was nothing he could do to his own dreams while he slept to make them more interesting, like he found he loved doing with the imaginations of mortals.

Nope, he had to sit through his boring, seemingly normal subconscious thoughts. Though, he supposed sitting at a table whilst wearing a blue and white dress, completely with headband, while Luke sat across from him, looking quite moody in his ribbon-decorated top hat while he sipped his tea.

Percy groaned, flopping back into his chair, adjusting his headband. "Borning! Boring boring boring! You! Mousy, dance!" Percy said, pointing at a mouse on his left who had been reading a thick novel labeled Quantum Physics.

"I don't dance." The mouse sniffed, his voice so low pitched it resonated.

Percy pouted, and turned to the the little blond girl on his right. Her head was tilted to the side, and her milky white eyes gazed blankly at the back of the mouse's book. She had rabbit ears sticking out of her head, and as she turned her head towards Percy, she smiled, even as blood started to run from her eyes.

"Tick tock, tick tock, three mice ran up the clock…" She murmured, giggling as her gaze transfixed upon the mouse once again.

Percy huffed. He turned accusing eyes on Luke, frowning. "Why're you here? You abandoned me, like, a month ago when you died." Percy said, turning upside down in his chair. His dress fell, revealing baby blue stockings that reached his thigh and flared, but he couldn't care, even as his head hung underneath the table.

He noticed that whatever store dream Luke was getting his pants at, they were damn nice. The shoes too. Both were nice, black, the pants pressed and the shoes sleek.

Luke gazed sadly at him, though Percy couldn't see it. "I'm sorry I did this too you." He spoke softly, voice sorrowful. Percy flipped back over, observing Luke who sat like a kicked puppy. Percy raised an eyebrow.

"What exactly did you do to me? Put me in this dress? I quite like it, actually. The headband is nice, keeps the hair out of my face. I think I'll start wearing them on a regular basis." Percy murmured, petting his hair, which in defiance from being help back poofed out in a mane of hair behind the hairpiece, curly locks spreading and fanning out. Percy absentmindedly twirled a long lock of hair on his finger.

Luke shook his head, lowering his face into his hands in seemingly anguish. "Can't you see? Can't you see it all?" He asked. Though instead of the slightly watery voice Percy expected to hear, Luke spoke with a laugh in his voice. He raised his head, eyes glowing bright green. He giggled and jumped in his chair, and Percy smiled widely. "You're insane, because of me." He spoke in a hushed voice, whispering loudly as they were rather far apart.

Percy scoffed, standing in his chair. He hopped onto the table, spinning as he swirled his dress around, paying no mind to the food on the table, nor the blond girl or the mouse. "I'm not insane. Why would I be insane? How could you even cause such a thing? Yes, I'm still terribly hurt by your death, but hey, torturing people in their sleep via dreams is fun, so it's cool." Percy said, shrugging.

Luke smiled widely, climbing gracefully onto the table as well. "C'mon, you're smarter than that, I know you are. Surely you've put the pieces together, and are just ignoring them?" Luke asked, eyes glinting as he offered his hand in dance.

Percy scoffed at the hand, continuing his one-man-dance that consisted mainly of twirls to accent the folds in the dress.

"I've not the slightest clue what you're talking about. And you're top hat isn't nearly fancy enough for me to accept your hand."

"Would you prefer I spell it out for you? If you refuse to admit it to yourself, perhaps you'll take the cowardly route and let your subconscious tell you in disguise." Luke said, sneer in place. Percy shrugged.

"If that makes you happy. I'm rather content in the knowledge that I look amazing in a dress. They're so fun! Look at me spin, Luke!" Percy laughed joyously, falling off the table and into the pale arms of the girl. He sat there calmly, legs dangling over the chair leg as he stared at Luke. He ignored the girl, who had decided nibbling gently on Percy's gloved hand would be fun.

Luke picked up the mouse, who squeaked in indignation as his book fell. Luke squeezed the mouse in his hand roughly, and it ceased to make noise, causing a satisfied smile to adorn Luke's face. "I was a Guardian, Percy. I know you figured that part out at some point." He sent a pointed look in Percy's direction, but the only indication that Percy was listening to him was him shushing the girl, but still didn't bother to pull his hand from her grasp.

"Perhaps you never figured out which God I was, but I know you knew. I assume you remember what I told you when I first started watching over you, about five years ago? About what happens when a Guardian takes their stance over a child?"

Percy frowned, tilting his head in his direction. "Vaguely."

Luke rolled his eyes, playing with the limp mouse in his hands, swinging it back and forth while holding onto its tail. "Yes, well, when my powers transitioned to you, it was a bit too much. You're insane now, with a hearty arsenal of abilities at your side, I must say. Honestly I'm scared for those that crossed you." Luke giggled.

Percy smiled, his head hanging limply upside down over the arm of the chair. The girl had moved on from nibbling gently onto his gloved hand to the flared fabric of the ruffle around his shoulder. A giggle soon escaped him. "So I'm a lunatic, yeah? Oooohh, that's a fun word. Lunatic, lunatic. Loony-lunatic. Loony-Luna. Loony-Luna! I like that name. Luke, call me Luna, will you?"

Luke smiled, hopping off the table. "Why of course, your Majestic Lunacy."

"Oh wait, Luke! You said you were a minor God, yes? Which one?" Percy asked, sitting up and dislodging the girl. She hissed as him, revealing sharp fangs, but went back to her nibbling when Percy shushed her.

A sneaky smile crept onto Luke'a face. "Guess."

A pout encased Percy's features. "NO! I DON'T LIKE GUESSING! TELL ME NOW!" He shouted, arms flailing and hitting the girls head, knocking it off her shoulders. She wailed and her arms and body attempted to get up to chase after it, but Percy refused to move.

Luke frowned, dropping the mouse as though it was something disgusting. It made a soft, squishy sound as it hit the floor. "Fine then. My name is Loki, God of Mischief." He said, a snarl to his features.

Percy tilted his head, and started giggling. "Loki. I like that name. Almost as much as I like Luna. Hmm, rather close to Luke, isn't it? Luki. Loke. Luke-Loki, Loki-Luke, ahahahhahaha," Percy trailed off into insane giggles, slumping back into his chair. The girls headless body threw him off of her, and Percy continued to laugh, harder and harder as he watched the body chase after the wailing, blood stained head.

* * *

Percy sat in a small restaurant in Vegas, sipping on his lemonade peacefully while munching on some fries. We swung his legs lightly while patiently waiting for his dinner partner to arrive. He played with the food on his plate. All that was left of the burger that had been there was a mutated tomato. He hated tomatoes.

He didn't have to wait long. Ares arrived, stomping off his motorcycle and swaggerishly taking off his sunglasses as he walked into the building. Upon spotting Percy, he froze. Percy gave him a cheery smile and patted the table in signal.

He knew Ares would be here eventually. He had realized it was one of the God's more favored hangout places, and knew that if he just waiting and meandered until the God arrived, it would be worth it.

Percy smiled a feral smile as the God sat in front of him with a loud, angry huff. "What do you want, Jackson?" Ares growled. Percy could feel the angry vibes coming off him in waves. He saw, out of the corner of his eye, a couple arguing heatedly, and in the back it seemed like a fight was going to break out. He felt the waves of negative emotion tempting him, persuading him to get angry, to become irrational and brash. Percy smiled and brushed them off. They only worked on the ones who had a sense of stability in their lives.

"Nice to see you again too. How have you been? Aphrodite been treating you well?" Percy chatted, smile never leaving his face as he munched on a fry.

Ares glowered. "You got some nerve, punk."

"I have lots of nerves. They give me reflexes by connecting to my spinal cord. They are also in my gums, and they help me feel sensations. So yes, I have nerves. Thank you for noticing." Percy said with a small smirk, and Ares growled.

"Why, I oughta-"

"Go ahead. Try. I'd love to see the attempt." Percy challenged, raising an eyebrow, only serving to piss Ares off further

"Kid, I could squish you like a bug with the snap of my fingers. You'd do better than to piss me off-"

"Then why don't you do it? You obviously have a large amount of disdain for me."

"I'm not doing it because I don't want to be banned from my favorite restaurant. I happen to like this form, thank you very much." Ares snapped. Percy smiled.

"Then why don't we go somewhere else?"

Ares snorted. "As much as I'd like to kick your ass to into the ground, I don't feel like leaving, and I'd like to see you try to get me to leave."

Percy rolled his eyes. "Since when have the Gods become lazy?" He murmured to himself. Sighing as though a great weight was on his shoulders, Percy snapped his fingers.

They re-materialized amidst a clearing in a very green forest. Ares fell back, shouting in utter surprise while Percy managed to catch himself-just barely. He was still getting used to that thing he had accidentally discovered he could do. That had been fun.

"Alright, we're here. Care to, what did you say? 'Kick my ass into the ground'? You have no chance of being kicked out of your favorite dining area now. Please, help yourself." Percy goated, spreading his arms out.

Ares stared at him in horror for a second, before slowly getting to his legs. "What are you, Jackson?"

"Not sure. Still figuring that out. But it's fun." Shrugging, Percy plopped down onto the ground. "You have a free shot. Do you plan to take it?" Percy inquired. "I don't have all day, you know. If I'm going to be obliterated, I'd like to have it done quickly, you know? Busy busy busy." Laughing, Percy smiled, resting his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.

Ares stared down at Percy. A small, sinister grin came to his face. He cackled. "Wow. You actually want to die. Didn't expect that. Was the death of your lover too much on you?" Ares mocked, and Percy's laughing grin vanished.

"Oh, so now you're angry. Glad I was able to wipe that annoying smirk off your annoying face." A spear materialized in Ares hand.

"No."

Ares faltered. "No? No what, Jackson? Change your mind? I'm not sorry to say it's too late for that."

"No, Luke wasn't my lover. He was my best friend."

"Same thing. Everyone knew you were gay for each other. I'm just glad I was able to wipe one more homo off the earth. Good riddance."

Ares cackled, and Percy was on his feet in a flash. "Do you really think that's the best thing to say to me?"

"Not like it matters. You're just a puny...whatever-it-is you are. Doesn't matter. You're going to be dead either way." Ares shrugged. He smiled, and lifted the spear. "Ready to die? No? Good." Laughing, Ares chucked the spear at Percy.

"How about no?"

Ares laughing was abruptly cut off as his spear stopped mid air. It was now floating lightly, drifting and swaying. The spear turned itself around slowly, coming around to point at Ares directly. Ares backed up. The spear hurtled towards him, and the God flinched, but the spear vanished a millimeter before hitting him.

Percy smiled. "I don't have much care for the gory side of things." He commented lightly, before Ares felt a stabbing pain in his head. "I like the….mental approach, better. I find it more accurate."

Ares screamed in agonizing pain as his brain seared, feeling as though it was melting within his skull. Every bad memory, every bad thought, bad experience, replayed in his head, torturing him. Things that hadn't even happened, things that he feared to experienced flashing in front of him. His hopes, his dreams, his idols and his best experiences played, and it was as though they were being thrown into a fiery inferno.

In fact, it felt as though his whole body was on fire. As though he was being roasted alive, charred to nothing more than a heated ember.

He screamed and screamed and screamed until his throat became raw. He had fallen to the ground some time ago without realizing, and now he could do nothing but wheeze in pain and writhe on the grassy floor.

Percy smiled, towering over the God. The spear re-materialized. Percy contemplated letting the God suffer for a few minutes longer, but if he waited too long his brain would melt too much, and then that would kill him, which was no fun. Percy was going through all the effort, he should be the one to kill the God while he was paralyzed in torture at Percy's hand.

Percy raised his weapon-laden hand. Poising it over the Gods head, Percy cackled. He drove the spear into Ares head with an insane smile on his face. Tremors shook the body for several seconds, before it slowly grew still.

Percy didn't stay around to watch it slowly disintegrate as golden ichor spilled out of the head wound. Instead, he left with a snap of his fingers, his cackles and the sounds of Ares' screams still reverberating throughout the forest.

The first kill...  
YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYYYYYYYYYYYAYAYAYAYAYAAAAYYAYAYAYAY


	5. Chapter V

THESE ARE THE THINGS  
THE THINGS WE LOST  
THE THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIREFIREFIREEEEEEEEE  
Nothing to do with the story, that's just the song that's playing.

 **Chapter V**  
 **Another One Bites the Dust...**  
 **and Another One Goes and Another One Goes and ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUSTTTTTTTTTTT**

Percy tittered around on his feet, at a loss of what to do. He had been sitting around for what felt like ages! Honestly, doing nothing was boring him. He couldn't forever amuse himself within the gruesome visions of his own mind. Okay, that was a lie, his gorey fantasies were rather fun, but still, it got old after awhile. One could only imagine the destruction of the whole world _so_ many ways.

Percy sat within his own mind, sideways in a chair as his legs dangled and kicked and his head lulled over the side. What could he possibly do to entertain himself, and possibly further along his destruction of everything in the process?

Percy groaned. He needed an evil henchmen. One couldn't simply come up with everything himself. Sure, it would still be him coming up with everything, but it was nice to have the illusion of company, something which he hadn't had in a long while. Percy snapped his fingers.

A random satyr appeared on a stool in front of him, munching on a tin can. "What's up man?" He asked, a smile on his face. Percy sat up correctly in his chair, but still slouching on one armrest.

"I'm bored."

"Wanna materialized people to kill and or torture them in various ways?" The satyr suggest casually.

"Been there, done that. I was thinking some way to further progress my world domination."

The satyr winced. "World domination? You sure about that? Sound's like a lot of responsibility.

"Bored." Percy grunted. The satyr shrugged in acceptance.

"Uhm…"

"You're useless."

"I'm you, bro."

"I'm useless."

"You could kill a God."

"Okay, not so useless. That sounds fun. Who? Dionysus? He's a pain in the ass."

"He's also useless and nothing but detrimental to the Gods. If anything, we'd be doing them a favor, killing him off." The satyr countered. Percy frowned in thought.

"So someone who is helpful to the Gods? Someone who they'll need?"

"And someone who would very likely get in our way."

"I'm a genius!"

"Hey! I came up with it!"

"You're me. Get over yourself."

The satyr huffed in irritation.

* * *

Percy landed lightly on the balls of his feet. Black armor adorned his body, hard as steel but flexible for mobility. He crept throughout the extravagant palace, watching as flying books fluttered around the place, some landing on perches, most of which were unoccupied. Little decorative olive trees were scattered about, usually next to some stone statue or fountain or other marble structure. In the dead of night, not much could be seen, but the unblinking, large eyes of owls stared at him in the dark. He stared right back, challengingly. They rested once more, unbothered by his presence.

He held his electrified spear in hand, poised out in front of him to help light the way. He didn't use the spoil of war very much, but it had proven to become handy in the few months he had claimed ownership of it.

Stalking slowly throughout the large, marble structure, Percy wandered around to where he hoped his target would be. If he was correct in his assumption, the resting place of his target would be near the back of the palace.

As he ventured father and father, it became smaller, more crowded. Bookshelves began to adorn walls on all sides, some plain, others in extravagant designs, decorating the walls in swirls. Some of the books were organized by color alone, others were alphabetized, and some seemed completely random.

But he wasn't here to compare literature choices. Slowly, he made his way to where the doors were. He didn't bother attempting to open some of the more plain wooden doors. A Goddess who would spend that much time arranging her books would surely make her bedchamber entrance just as extravagant.

Percy was beginning to get impatient and paranoid. He kept passing ordinary looking doors, some metal and steel, others made of gold and silver, some just plain oak wood, others out of leaves and plants with olives decorating them. He kept turning around, feeling a pinprick of anxiety tickling the back of his neck, until finally he came across what he knew had to be her bedchamber.

The door was massive, towering at least ten feet above him, roughly twelve feet in width. It was a large, impressively carved marble structure decorated with lines of golds, silvers and emeralds, and Percy thought he saw some rubies. He also could have sworn there were hints of obsidian in places. Pictures, animals and several winged books were carved into the massive double doors, but Percy didn't spend any time worrying about architectural design. He knew the palace would be impeccably designed before he begun his journey.

He slowly opened them, holding his breath until he was able to slip in and close them once more. He knew the room within had to be even more magnificent than the doors and the rest of the palace, but he didn't spare it any attention, focusing solely on the massive canopied four-poster bed in the middle of the room.

He crept towards the bed slowly, quieter than a shadow. He thought Nico would be proud of him. Casting that thought aside, Percy diminished his spoil of war, instead taking out his faithful sword, Anaklusmos. It gave off its own golden glint of its own, but that couldn't be helped.

Percy was finally next to the bed. Athena rested peacefully, face relaxed and neutral and brown hair splayed out around her. Percy smiled a wicked smile. He let his subconscious drift out towards her, entering her mind and rendering her defenseless as he tore down all her senses of feelings, of hearing, of sight, of smell. She was completely oblivious to the outside world around her.

Percy trapped her within her own, everlasting nightmares. Never to awaken, never to be mercifully freed from the torturous hell her own mind would create and fuel hour by hour, minute by minute, second by second. Percy smiled, and began his departure. A maniacal smirk adorned his face as he sunk into the shadows, watching her too-still form on the bed, eyelids and fingers twitching as she begun the first stages of her eternal hell.

"Farewell, Lady Wisey." Percy cackled, before vanishing amongst the shadows.

* * *

Percy stumbled into camp, bloody, bruised and battered. He hardly made it several feet within the borders before an earth-quaking roar shook the ground and sent his weak legs tumbling. He fell to the ground gracelessly, closing his eyes and panting heavily through his mouth. His hair was matted to his forehead from blood and sweat, and his arms and legs felt like lead.

He heard the stomping noise and vibrations of multiple feet long before they appeared. He knew that roar was sure to attract some attention. He let himself go limp and numb as shouts were heard and orders were barked.

"Grover, go get Will! He's injured!" Percy recognized Rachel's voice, and even though he strained his ears to hear Grover, all was heard was a baleful bleet. "I don't care what happened a year ago, Grover, on top of some stupid tower! Go get Will, do you see the condition he is in?" Rachel shouted. Percy heard the sound of hoofs galloping away.

He heard someone fall to the ground next to him. "Leo, help me roll him onto his back!" Her voice was much closer now, and it was one of the hardest things Percy had ever done, forcing himself to stay limp as he was turned over. He felt hands on either side of his face, holding his head steady. His mouth wanted to drop open. He refused to be so undignified.

"Percy? Percy can you hear me?" Rachel's voice was beyond worried. Percy could feel Leo, whoever that was, shuffling nervously behind him. "What're you standing around for, people? Someone go help Will, they'll need a stretcher to move him. And someone get Chiron! Jason, you go, tell him Percy's back."

Even as Rachel smacked his face lightly to get a response, Percy listened intently to hear what 'Jason' would have to say.

"That-"

"Yes it's the almighty Demi-God gone mad, but obviously something is wrong so go get him!" He heard a murmured reply before he assumed Jason's footsteps went away.

"Percy! Go help me I will stab you with that sword just like you stabbed me all those years ago, and I promise it won't vanish-"

Percy's eyes flickered open slowly, as though heavy weights were placed on them. "What's Anaklusmos got do with this?" He murmured, voice scratchy and broken. He dimly saw Rachel sag in relief above him. "Thank the Gods, are you okay? What's happened?"

Percy ignored her, instead choosing to observe who he assumed was Leo off to his left. The boy was rather short, with curly brown hair and dark skin. His eyes flickered to his surroundings. Several people formed a misshapen circle around him, reminding Percy of roughly a year ago, when he woke up on Olympus with an oddly formed circle of Thalia, Grover, Annabeth and the Gods watching him from all sides.

There was a girl with dark skin, frizzy brown hair, and oddly colored eyes, somewhere between amber and golden, biting her nail off to the side. A big fellow with army style cropped hair was by her side, an arm around her to comfort her. He recognized Juniper tittering near the trees anxiously. Another girl with choppy brown hair pulled into a braid was behind Rachel, arms crossed over her chest. Katie Gardner was next to Juniper, comforting her. Lou Ellen was hovering over Leo. Jake was next to Lou Ellen. The last one he saw was Nico off to the side as well, shifting nervously on his feet.

Upon making eye contact with the small, pale boy, Percy smiled tiredly. Nico gave a hesitant smile back. "Don't be a douchenozzle, okay Percy?" He asked with a slight, nervous laugh. Percy smiled again.

"Percy? Percy, can you tell me wha-" Rachel was interrupted as several more people made an arrival.

Will was in the lead, hauling a stretcher with the help of two of his cabin mates. Percy vaguely recognized Kyla and Austin, but his memory was fuzzy as he wasn't around the two much. Grover was following behind them, munching nervously on a metal tin can. Chiron was only a few paces behind him, flanked by who Percy could only assume was Jason. Behind Jason, Annabeth followed at a shocked, wary, sedated pace.

 _I'm so popular._

"Let's get him onto the stretcher, quick. He looks like he's losing a lot of blood." Will told his siblings, and the agreed. Again, the mighty challenge of laying completely limp occurred. As he was raised he got a better look at everyone around him. It was surely an odd bunch. He didn't recognized a quarter of the people who were there. That's what he got go going MIA for a year and some change. His mistake.

"Hello, Will." Percy wheezed out. "Good to see you again." Will looked at him worriedly, even as a smile pulled at his lips.

"Stop talking. You'll wear yourself out. Also, I don't think I can handle the sound of your annoying voice again. It's been so peaceful without it." He said jokingly, causing a smattering of strained laughs to occur.

"How long do you think he'll take to recover?" Chiron broke in suddenly. They were starting to cart him away now, towards the infirmary, next to the Apollo cabin.

"I don't know. By looking, at least a few days. But we have to get him moving so I can treat him. Can someone bring some more ambrosia and nectar to the infirmary? Thanks!" Will called out as they pushed the stretcher gently away, still rushing slightly. Many people looked like they wanted to follow but refrained themselves.

Percy wanted to cackle as he was rolled away. He was an amazing actor. He always knew he would be. Though, it was a bit tedious instructing the monster on how much to injure him, and to screech once he had fallen through, but the least the ride on the stretcher was fun _._

 _Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!  
_

Percy let his eyes fall close as he waited to be brought to the infirmary. His plans were going perfectly. He cackled in his head. He was getting quite good at it at this point.

* * *

To my first review ever, from Lilireyna, tha ** _NK YOU SO MUCH YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH THAT MEANS TO ME LIKE SERIOUSLY_**


	6. Chapter VI

GUYS TWO REVIEWS. YAYYYYYYY. I posted this cause I got a second review, and I was happy.

You likey? You No Likey? TELLLL MEE  
Honestly it's so much fun coming up with these chapter titles.

 **Chapter VI**  
 **There's the Emo, and There's the Hottie. Yay!**

Percy woke up several hours later. He shifted slightly, and smiled in satisfaction upon realizing his wounds were healed. They were rather annoying. He sat up in bed, trying to figure out what time of day it was by the amount of light fluttering in through the windows of the infirmary.

 _Oh who am I kidding I'm not some survival master like Bear Grylls_. Where's the clock? Casting his eyes around the room, Percy finally found the clock on the far side of the room. _3: 16._ Percy sighed and flopped back down on his bed, before swinging his legs over the side and standing. He had been hoping it would be a bit later in the day, around dinner time so he could just eat and go to his cabin, but alas, lunch would have ended only about two hours ago.

He tested his legs, hopping from foot to foot before he commenced his journey. He went over the details of his plot in his head as he greeted the outside world. Outside he saw a few people he vaguely recognized, but one person in particular caught his attention.

"Nico!" Percy called out, quickly jogging over to the pale boy, who looked up in surprise upon hearing his name being called.

"Percy? I don't think you should be u-"

"I feel fine...for the most part." He added in an afterthought. Appearances appearances. Percy bit his lip. Nico glared at him.

"Percy, you know better than that. Go lay down." Nico ordered. Percy whined.

"I'm okay, really! Now that I'm me again-"

"What do you mean, you're you again?" Nico cut in sharply.

Percy blinked. "Oh, I guess I didn't' get a chance to tell you what happened yesterday-"

"Jackson! Why are you walking around?" Will said from behind them. Percy turned around, looking like a deer caught in headlights.

"I was planning to come look for you-"

"I don't care, you aren't well yet. You're supposed to lay down until I say otherwise. You know the rules by now." Will give him an extremely exasperated look. Percy looked up at him sheepishly.

"When have I ever been one to follow the rules?"

"Which is precisely why I don't want you in my infirmary nearly as often as you appear." Huffing, Will grabbed Percy's arm and hauled him back into the building. Percy dragged his feet slightly but allowed Will to lead him back. Percy sat in his bed with a slight pout. Percy smiled internally as Will fluttered about the small room. Damn he was a good actor. _I'd pat myself on the back if it wouldn't give me away._ Percy watched silently as Will came at him with some nectar.

"Drink."

Percy took the glass. He drank it, expecting the taste of warm, fresh cookies to fill his senses, but to his surprise, he tasted nothing. It was as though he was drinking wet air. It was more tasteless than water. He frowned down at the cup for a moment, before snapping his head back up when Will started speaking.

"How do you feel? Physically."

"Fine. My wounds are all healed."

"Mentally?" Percy ducked his head down. "Percy?"

"He's gone."

"Who's gone, Percy?"

"The monster who was possessing me." A long silence stretched on, and Percy raised his head slightly to look at Will through his emo fringe. He thought he was doing a pretty good job imitating Nico.

"I'm going to get Chiron."

As soon as Will left, Percy fell back on the bed, laughing hysterically. Oh, this was too good! Giggles escaped him, racking his body with tremors. He quickly composed himself when he heard the sound of horse hooves. He sat back up, giving off the persona of not having moved at all. Percy watched with hooded eyes as Chiron walked in, followed by Will, and someone he hadn't expected.

Jason was hovering behind Will. Percy wanted to smile. He decided against it. "Percy, Will informed that you were possessed?"

Percy nodded slowly. Chiron shared a worried glance with Will. Jason shifted awkwardly. Percy vaguely thought that if this was the hero Hera would not shut up about, then he wasn't much. Cute, yes, handsome, yes, strong and macho looking, yes all of the above, but still. "What happened, Percy? You've been gone for almost a year and a half."

Percy looked up in shock. "I have? Wow...I knew it had been long, but I didn't think it had been...wow." Percy looked down, fiddling with his thumbs.

"Percy, you need to tell us what happened."

Percy took a big breath. "In the battle, this...this monster cornered me. He...I don't. It's like he took me over, and...when I accepted the offer of immortality...it wasn't me. And when it happened...there was so much pain. I was trapped within my own head. I was forced to watch as..as that monster took over my limbs, my senses. He killed people. Innocent people. He-he killed Ares! And Athena! And-and-and-and I couldn't do anything." Percy's tone was heartbroken as he stared in desolation at his hands, which rested in his lap. His body shook minutely.

Internally, Percy was desperately trying not to laugh. Holy shit this was fun!

Chiron stared down at thee shaking boy in shock. He took a breath. "How did you….escape?"

Percy shook his head. "I don't know. It was just like...like for a second, I got control of myself, and...I was able to overtake him. And then...I got free. And then he was chasing me, and I was so weak I struggled to get away, but then I made it through the arch…"

"How did you get all the way over here, Percy?"

"I'm...not sure. The monster, he had this ability to...teleport, I guess. And then...I was free." Percy shrugged. He refused to look anywhere but his hands, simply for the fact that he thought everyone would see the mirth in his eyes.

"Thank you, Percy. I know that was hard. Get some rest, I don't want to see you on your feet until tomorrow." Chiron ordered, before he left. Will followed behind him, leaving him alone with Jason.

"Hello." Percy said quietly, making Jason look around nervously.

"Hi. Are you okay? You were pretty bad out there." Jason said awkwardly. Percy smiling slightly.

"I'll be alright, soon. You're Jason, yes?" Jason nodded.

"So you're the famous Percy? I've heard a lot about you."

Percy looked down sheepishly. "Good things, I hope."

"You wouldn't believe. I...look forward to getting to know you. I can't imagine what you must've gone through."

Percy looked down again. "Thanks."

Jason left and Percy laid down on his bed again, shaking with silent laughter.

* * *

 _Jesus_ , pretending to have been fatally injured was _boring!_ They wouldn't let him do _anything!_ He couldn't get out of bed, unless it was to go piss, someone brought him his meals, and gave him changes of clothes, checked up on him, forced him to drink that Godly beverage again, and again. If he hadn't already lost all his humanity the nectar would've burned the part of his brain controlling it!

Well, it probably would've burned up his whole brain. And that wouldn't be fun. Then he'd just be a useless meat suit with brain matter dripping out of his ears. It'd be cool to see, but he still needed to kill all the Gods, damnit!

And he'd admit, it was nice to be waited on, this was probably what is was like when silly mortals knew who their betters were and treated them properly, but sadly good, old fashioned dictatorship wasn't a thing anymore.

Damnit, modernization.

They made him stay in the bed for three stupidly long days. Not that he didn't sneak out in that time, of course. On the second night, when he could hear the harpies fluttering around, he got up and silently walked his way to the front door. He looked overhead, trying to spot one of the birds. He'd never seen any harpy besides Ella. He stared in fascination as multiple ones circled the cabins, some fluttering out and other picking at the sculptures. He couldn't see very well in the light, but he could make out the shape of the harpies, and found to his surprise they were different from Ella.

They were smaller, with thicker, longer wings and sharper, elongated beaks. They were more square shape, fatter and stubbier with no necks. Their feathers stuck up in odd, random intervals. Percy crinkled his nose. Cleaning harpies weren't as pretty as regular harpies.

Percy stuck his head out of the cabin door. Immediately, a harpy squaked and swooped down towards him, claws extracted in preparation for-well, most likely ripping him to bits so he was easier to eat. But Percy just smiled. His eyes glinted poisonous green as he narrowed them at the fat bird. It screamed as it approached him, and Percy absently thought it would awaken some campers before he titled his head. The bird convulsed in mid air, before falling to the ground and writhing in pain, squawking febally. Percy's smile was feral as he watched it. He continued with his mental torture until the poor creature stopped moving, a faint twitch still moving throughout the wings and talons.

One bird, after several moments, slowly flew down. It landed next to his fallen comrade, pecking at the dead carcass lightly. He cawed softly, and received no reply back. Percy thought vaguely that it was morning the dead bird. But the next moment, the razor sharp beak shot down faster than Percy thought was possible, and started to devour the carcass. More birds joined in, and it became a brawling fight to devour one of their own. Percy cackled lightly. Soon, nothing was left besides a few blood splatters that blended into all the past ones. Percy thought he saw some of his off to the side, glowing slightly, but shrugged and moved on.

They birds, after several more minutes of cleaning both the cabins and their newly blood-soaked beaks, flew into the air. Percy noticed that once they were done with their task, they started to fly in circles around one of the giant fountains. As more and more birds gathered, it slowly became a whirring, squawking, writhing mass of feathers and wings. Percy was transfixed as the birds soon became one mass, a swirling typhoon of razor sharp beaks and deadly talons, before they all abruptly swooped down, and then back up, going straight into the sky until Percy could no longer see them.

 _Well that was amazing._

Percy was in dazed awe for several moments before he regained his senses and stepped onto the porch of the infirmary. He jumped over the railing, landing quietly before he set off. He needed to do some surveillance. First of all, he wanted to check out the damage he had managed to cause.

He found the Ares cabin first. He stared up at it with pride glinting in his eyes. It was ruined. The wood parts were twisted, splintered and knotted. The metal was dented, had lost all shine and came off in razor sharp pieces. The glass was broken or cracked, the paint chipping. One section of the door was completely gone, creating a two by three sized hole in the corner, causing the illusion of a never-ending gap into darkness. The flag that had once been brandished proudly from the top of the cabin, bearing the Ares symbol (an ax and a spear intersecting to form an X) was now broken at the stem, making the flag hang limply, the two pieces hardly held together by a mere scrap of a splinter.

Percy felt absolutely giddy. Cabin five was destroyed! Completely and utterly. A small squeal left Percy and he hopped up and down for a moment. He felt so proud!

High on the rush of success, Percy ran for the Athena cabin. He hoped the havoc he caused there was as palpable as it was in the Ares cabin.

He stopped dead in his tracks upon seeing the Athena cabin. His already wide smile grew larger. The Joker had nothing on his wrinkled cheeks. The cabin, whereas it had once been a light blue with red trimmings and accents, was now a pitch black. There were swirling images, writhing and convulsing on the woodwork, sweeping across and dashing through the metal. The flag no longer had Athena's symbol sewn into it (an owl with a branch from an olive tree held in its beak) but instead held the image of a bloody, broken bird carcass.

Percy put a heart over his hand. His babies! He was so proud. A smile stretched wide over his handsome face, Percy skipped around the other cabins. He needed a test subject. Sadly, he wouldn't be able to accomplish it tonight, but he knew his window of opportunity. He thought. It would be fairly easy.

He roamed the cabins, searching for a good one. He stopped by the Hades cabin briefly. No, Nico would wake up too easily. But the sister...no, she was probably a light sleeper as well. Percy hummed lightly as he looked through the cabins. Zeus? No, Jason seemed fun. Athena? No, he'd like to see them suffer, just not yet. Hephaestus? No, too useful. He was hoping to see if they could add some new things to his gear. Hestia? Nahh, they were cool.

Hermes. They had too many kids in there anyways. He'd use one of those that never got claimed. They may even thank him for creating more room in that cramped space.

Happy with his decision, Percy circled the building. There, that was a good entry point. Looking through a window he could see a bathroom. Not that he needed windows. But the bathroom was an idea space to appear.

Percy skipped back to the infirmary, giddy from his accomplishment and excited for the plan he would enact tomorrow night.


	7. Chapter VII

_Helllllooooo._ Kay so I got a review asking me to explain the last two chapters. I'm not sure what all in all is confusing, but that's valid because I wrote the damn thing, so I'm kinda writing this as I read through the last two chapters. I'll try and sum it up and hope it serves purpose? Sorry if I end up just confusing you more. I've never written anything like this before so a bit of mix-up is to be expected, I suppose. RIGHT ENOUGH EXCUSES  
At the beginning of chapter five, we got Percy talking to a little satyr dude. Basically, Percy is in his own mind, and within his mind (since he's insane and shit) he's creating worlds and lands and people and shit, so he made up this little dude to help him decide what he was going to do next cause he got bored, and didn't have much to do. Ya know?.  
Then it jumps to Percy dooming Athena. Percy just kinda decided to kill her for fun, by sneaking into her palace while she was asleep, and used his freaky Jedi-mind tricks on her. (We get more into what kinda shit he does later on. Heuheuheu)  
Thennnnnn Percy decides he needs to go to Camp, using his fabulous acting skills, since now he's got a plan of what he wants to do and being inside Camp Half-Blood is all part of it. So he goes in, all battered and bruised and injured so that they wont suspect him. Like I said, wonderful acting skills.  
Then he's in the infirmary cackling to himself? That's all I got for that one. I hope you lot have figured out that when it's in italics _(you know, this curvy little devil)_ that's Percy in his head, or talking to himself or whatever. Right? Right.  
Then chappie six starts with Percy waking up in the infirmary. He's impatient and got bored so he sought out Nico. Will grabs him, drags him back to the infirmary, cause we know how Percy is.  
From there the interrogation starts. Will asking questions, Percy using his acting to play his part, Percy says some shit and Will runs off to grab Chiron.  
Was the part where Percy collapsed in giggles confusing? Eh. Well he's having the time of his immortal existence fooling the punny mortals, so, giggles!  
Chiron comes, and Percy explains the background story he was using to cover up for the naughty shit he's been doing, claiming his possession because he's Percy and he knows he can't claim much else cause he's got nothing else to go off of.  
Then the Jercy starts because as an author I have no self-restraint.  
Ah, the harpies. Percy get's bored at night, and wanders around. Freaky-zombie harpies come along (different type than Ella) and Percy learns that they absolutely destroy and demolish shit. He get's all giddy.  
He finds the cabins, and becomes even more ecstatic cause he's proud as shit cause _he_ caused that destruction.  
Finally he decides he needs a test subject and floats down to Hermes and decides to use them.

I hope that cleared up any confusion?

 **Chapter VII**  
 **Right, Right, I Get it. Totally. I'll Kill Him. I'll do That. But You Know What's Fucked Up? English.**

During the day, Percy once more got an unexpected visitor. He had been eating some soup with saltine crackers on the side (that had made him consider slaughtering the Apollo kid that gave it to him but he decide to not change his plans just yet. Maybe next time) when the curtain to his little cubicle slowly got pushed aside.

He of course noticed the shift right away, but for appearances he decided to pretend he was still immersed in his soup. It was very fascinating. With the murky waters, cracker crumbs, and bits of whatever-the-hell-that-is floating around in it. He could see himself getting distracted for real as he played with it.

Only when he heard a slight cough did he look up. His lips twitched ever-so-slightly upon seeing Annabeth shifting awkwardly in the doorway.

"Hey, Annabeth." Percy said quietly. But dammit if he didn't want to shout at her and see if he could make her scream in terror like she did on olympus.

"Percy. You're looking...better."

Percy smiled slightly. "I feel better. I think I've had enough of the whole 'beaten to a pulp' thing in my life. I'm ready to stop with that, you know?" _And by that I mean force everyone to bow down to me, not that 'settle down' crap I can see in your hea-_

"So you're planning to settle down?"

 _Fuck off. You can not have a piece of this ass._

"Yeah, I think so."

They stood in silence for several long moments, Percy wanting to make her leave and Annabeth not sure on what to do. She started to open the curtain, _(yes, yes, yes!)_ but then she dropped her hand _(no, no, no!)_ , abruptly turning on her heel to face him.

"Percy, what happened up there? Chiron won't tell me anything but it can't have been your fault, or else you wouldn't-" She cut herself off, shifting uncomfortably. _Or else you wouldn't be allowed to stay here. Or be alive, even._

Percy ducked his head. Damn he was a good actor!

"I...I'm not completely sure, to be honest. During the battle...a monster, something, must have possessed me. I wasn't in control of my own actions. It-it made me kill my friends." Percy whispered. "It...it made me kill Luke, Annabeth." Percy's lip trembled from his amazing muscle control and his body shook from holding in his laughter. He dared to glance up for a quick moment through his lashes and fringe, only to see Annabeth staring at him in open-mouth shock.

"An-and on the mountain, it made me accept the immorality. You had to have known I would have never accepted it on my own. I-I think it did it so it wouldn't destroy me, from my body being too weak or something. For so long I couldn't control what I was doing, what I was saying. I still ate, and used the bathroom and bathed, but I think the...thing just want it's vessel to stay hygienic or something." Percy put his soup down on the bedside next to him with a trembling hand, and curled in on himself.

"It made me attack the Gods. Ares, and Athena. I'm so sorry Annabeth, I couldn't control it, I tired and I tired but I couldn't and-and now the cabins are a disaster and the Godly line is going to fall out, and-and so many kids don't have a father or a mother now, and it's all my fault because I wasn't strong enough-" Percy hiccuped, his voice broke and trembled, his breathing was labored and sporadic. He felt small arms wind around him, and tucked himself into the embrace while mentally cringing. He hated touching.

He felt Annabeth petting his hair, and couldn't help himself from tucking his head further into his knees to get away from it. He didn't want her to touch him. She didn't have anything going for her. Cute, sure. Blond, sure. Smart, sure. But she was female. Big turn off.

Annabeth let go after a few minutes spent in silence in which she rocked him while he trembled while growling in irritation.

When she left Percy let out a relieved sigh, letting himself uncurl and laying down on the bed. Acting was exhausting. He let himself sleep for a few hours, thinking that his nighttime journey deserved from preparation if he was going to enjoy it to its fullest. However, hardly more than an hour later he was awoken by the sound of hooves tapping on the wooden floor. He blinked open blearily as the curtain was thrown aside and Grover appeared, a happy smile on his hairy face before he jumped onto the bed, trapping Percy in a hug.

"Perce! So glad to have you back man, you good?"

"I would be if I could breath, Grover." Percy wheezed, actually winded as he hadn't been expecting it. Grover didn't seem sorry as he climbed off of Percy. "It's good to see you, G-Dog."

"Man, you too. I've missed you! I was so worried, but Annabeth told me what happened and I'm glad you're back. It's been dull without you." _Just wait til tomorrow morning. You'll have wished it had stayed that way._

Percy gave a small, remorseful smile. "I wish I had been around too." He said quietly, making Grover pull him into another hug. Percy was surprised to find that the contact with Grover didn't make his skin itch like it did when Annabeth touched him. It offset Percy slightly, because if anything he felt nice. He suspected it was because he had known Grover for so long.

"You good? Got enough food, and everything? Need help getting to the bathroom?" Grover asked jokingly. Percy snorted, waving him off.

"Screw off, you overgrown goat. I can piss by myself like a big boy."

"I'm sure you are." Grover said, wagging his eyebrows and nudging Percy, making the minor Godling laugh unexpectedly as his face became red.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"I think I'll pass, but I may know a few people who'd gladly take you up on that offer, Perce." Percy shook his head with a smile on his face, then stopped for a second in surprise. He was actually...enjoying himself. He hadn't been expecting that. What was it about Grover that was causing this?

 _Shit. It's the bond, isn't it?_

For a millisecond, panic seized Percy's heart with a taloned grip, before he forced himself to relax. The bond was weak, Grover couldn't feel his emotions. He was okay. For the most part, at least. That was all he needed. He hoped. "Well, it's good to see you again, Perce. You know when they're gonna let you walk around again?"

 _Let me._ Let _me walk again. It's ludicrous. Like I need their permission to walk around and stretch my legs like some mental patient. I may be insane but I am a functioning sociopath, thank you very much! Call me Sherlock. Watson! Hand me my skull! Heuheuheu._

"They said I should be healed completely by tomorrow." Grover smiled.

"Good. I'll let you get your rest, feel better Perce!" Grover left with a small hop in his hooves, making Percy smile after him, a snort in his throat. _Over enthusiastic goat-people._

Percy shook his head, before glaring disdainfully at the soup next to him. He sneered at it, before grumpily turning onto his side in an attempt to get some more sleep. When he shut his eyes, he closed off all his senses, rendering him vulnerable. But that didn't matter. Nothing could kill him anyways. He'd wake up in time for his plan, he knew. So instead of worrying about his plans of ruthless murder, he slipped into the land of Morpheus.

Turns out Morpheus had a pretty dope hangout. As Percy strolled along, he saw giant, towering trees of bones with intestine-leaves, and cotton candy bushes with chocolate cookie berries. The path was a yellow brick road paved with brain matter, with eyeball and marshmallow rocks scattered across the path. A field of black licorice grew on all sides, with tall weeds of burning plastic Every once in awhile a bird of leather and cloth would swoop by and drop ice-cream-poop along the path. Wells made of stone and bone marrow popped up every once in awhile, a nine-foot high fire that smelled of rotting flesh and skittles shooting out of it. Rolling clouds of cotton candy and hair soared across the sky in large sections, though never blocking out the light source, which he could never identify but seemed to cast the landscape in a perpetual, hazy neon teal.

He walked through this scenery for what felt like several miles before a tall, vst castle began to rise in the distance. Percy stopped to take it in for a second, craning his neck once he could see from top to bottom. The bottom of it looked to be built from bones alone, most horizontal but some vertical. It rose and rose, becoming laced with muscle tissue and cells to hold them together. Then skin started to be added in sections, before it reached the tops of the towers which were once again solely bone material, with tiny, decorative brains pierced through them. The windows where translucent eyeballs that twitch, watching the ice-cream-pooping birds, the fiery wells and when he came across, focusing on him, never serving away to watch the clouds or anything else that may interest them.

He approached the door, which was a large, double-door structure that was made to look like prison cell bars, made out of bones (he was beginning to sense a theme) in vertical sections. The doorknobs were tiny, squishy brains that dripped every once in awhile and insulted him if he started doing something they didn't approve of.

He waited for several moments, wondering what was going to appear, what he was waiting for, and then he could hear footsteps approaching. In the gloom it was hard to make out features until the person came close, but Percy recognized the way in which he walked, the way he held himself and the way he held his head.

"Luke." Percy breathed. He hadn't seen the other boy in ages.

"Percy. Have you been enjoying your powers?"

"Yes! I've already gotten rid of Athena and-"

"I know. I was there. I was guiding and leading you through it all."

Percy tilted his head. "But you aren't real. You're being reincarnated in something else, aren't you? Or something along the lines. So you couldn't have been actually leading me. I was leading myself." Percy nodded to look, firm in his logic.

"Same difference."

"You know I don't like it when you say that. It makes no sense. Why not just say 'same thing'? That's sensible."

"And you know everything about logic and english and how the way the world should work?"

"Yes I do. I also don't understand why people spell the name 'Zach' Z-A-C-H. Why not spell it Z-A-C-K?"

"It's because of the name Zachary, Per-"

"But then why not do the same thing to Nicholas? Nicholas isn't shorted to N-I-C-H. It's N-I-C-K! It makes no sense!"

"Percy-"

"I'm just sayin-"

"Shut up." Percy bowed his head. Luke leaned on the door, weaving his hands through the bars, the gap wide enough for him to comfortably fit his face through the barrs. "Look. The bond, with Grover? That can't happen. He's too...aware. He could somehow expand it without us realizing it, and he could do something detrimental."

"What's detrimen-"

"Something that'll ruin our plans. You have to get rid of him."

"But won't that kill me?"

"You're immortal you dumbass."

"Ohhhh right. Gotcha. I forgot."

"No shit Sherlock. Now go kill the satyr! As soon as possible." Percy nodded, and started to walk away, back down the yellow brick road, frowning as he went. He...he didn't want to kill Grover.

* * *

Percy woke up slowly, blinking his eyes rapidly to adjust to the light. He spent several moments staring at the ceiling above him, before looking towards the window, and then to the clock on the wall. It was about ten at night. Curfew was some fifteen minutes ago, and the harpies would arrive in roughly two hours.

Wonderful. Percy took his time as he moved around, stretching leisurely and cracking bones and joints. He let out a relieved sigh, and then groggily made his way out of the infirmary. He had a satyr to locate. Percy sat himself on the porch steps, crossing his legs and closing his eyes, focusing on the little nudging in his gut. That was the bond. He hadn't noticed it until he had seen Grover again.

Focusing, Percy zoomed in on the spot. If he kept going, kept focusing in, getting closer and closer to the core of the little nudging, he was hopping he would be able to find the satyr, somehow. It took several tries, but he was finally able to hone in on the spot, listing to the little voice murmuring to him. Percy almost gagged when he realized where Grover was, and quickly cut off the connection.

Percy stood, shaking out his slightly stiff limbs as he trekked towards to forest. He had a tree nymph to find. At least Grover would be worn out when Percy found him. One less problem for Percy to worry about.

As he walked, he deliberately slowed his steps. He didn't have any particular wish to find Grover in the middle of...fornicating. He walked silently and stealthily, moving throughout the forest on feather-light feet and savoring the silence that surrounded him on all sides, almost suffocating him with its pressure, its ever-looming presence, so fragile but so great.

He relished in the silence. If he tried, he could block out all the constant white noise in his head, the chattering voices and the crazed laughs, the heart-wrenching sobs and blood-curdling screams that rang in his ears continuously throughout his day and night. The sounds haunted his dreams, and even when he was alone on a night such as this they were still with him, always murmuring to him, always whispering inane things, little temptations and sweet offerings. But, if he focused, if he concentrated, then for a few moments he could bask in the bone-chilling silence of the forest.

As he walked, the trees became thicker, the grass greener and the bushes bushier. Noises started to become apparent, breaking the sweet silence that had been comforting him. The sounds of heavy breathing and small giggles slowly reached his ears, becoming louder but less frequent as he neared. He waited until no noise but soft, rhythmic breathing and the occasional snore could be heard before he peaked out between the bushes. He shut his eyes upon his quick analysis that they were-in a rather _inelegant_ state, for the sake of their privacy and his nightmares.

He gently levitated the deeply sleeping Grover and walked away, leaving Juniper to cuddle a nearby bush that looked rather fluffy. Grover shifted in his sleep and snored, making a noise every once in awhile, but Percy would know the moment he started to wake up, and so didn't worry. It took him awhile to get back to the camp with a floating satyr behind him, struggling to make sure Grover wasn't hit by anything and awoken as a result, and remembering the path back to camp with as little confusion as possible. By the time he had managed to set Grover down on the soft grass near the center of camp, he could hear faint screeches in the distance. He ducked into the nearest shelter he could find, which was one of the training structures. He wasn't going to miss this.

The harpies circled overhead in that same cyclone from the night before, a mass of wings and feathers and talons and beaks. Percy's eyes flickered back to Grover's form, and snorted. _Even his dick is hairy,_ he thought to himself absentmindedly as he watched the birds circle closer and closer to the ground. Closer and closer to Grover. Percy started to worry his lower lip. He didn't want to kill Grover, but it had to be done. Still, he couldn't help but wince and yelp in pain for his friend as one bird swooped down and cleaning bit off his... _penetrator_.

Grover sat up with a scream lodged in his throat, panic swelling him. He began to yell as he realized there was a mass of feathers and wing bones circling him, trapping him on all sides. He sobbed in pain as he tried to move away from them, but they were blocking him in on all sides. One bit into his arm, another his ribs and another his leg. Slowly they tore bits of flesh and bone off, until finally Grover was no more than a pool of blood. Percy felt remorse in the pit of his stomach, the image of Grover's pained and horror-stricken eyes glued to the forefront of his mind, possibly forever.

Percy made himself comfortable inside the training building. He wouldn't be leaving for another two hours, until the harpies left. Once they had, he had to assure that nothing could be lead back to 'innocent Percy who's still healing'. Percy sat alone with the never ceasing voices ringing in his ears. At least they made some entertaining conversations.

Once the harpies had finally left, leaving in their dramatic cyclone that Percy thought wa more to show off than anything, Percy revered in the fresh air exposed to him, bathing in the constantly perfect whether of Camp Half-Blood. Percy sniffed delicately, wondering over to the huge statue of Zeus. Or what was supposed to be him. Percy gave a crooked smile. It was still as he remembered, resembling a pile of feces then the King of the Gods.

That made him begin to think of Jason, the son of Zeus. He had heard all about the Demigod from Hera long before he returned without his memories. Really, the Goddess was very eccentric sometimes. But very easy to talk to if you got on her good side, which was really the 'Anti-every-other-God/Goddess' side. The boy held some promise, certainly. Handsome, good physique, strong and capable of leading, Percy could tell. Hera had made a good choice. In his musings, Percy didn't realize immediately that he had wandered over to cabin one, Zeus' cabin.

Once he did realize, he wasn't sure what made him make sure the only occupant was asleep before creeping in. He looked around himself. It wasn't a very stylish room, or personalized. Percy assumed it was because no one was planning on it having an occupant. A giant statue of Zeus in sandals loomed on a pedestal in the center of the room, and a single bed had been pushed into the corner of the room with a lumpy form atop it. Various, small decorations littered the walls, but Percy couldn't be bothered to pay them much attention, instead wandering over to Jason.

Jason was on his stomach, a trail of drool falling out of his squished mouth, an arm and leg both flung over the edge of the bed, face smushed into a pillow and the majority of his body covered with a giant, fluffy blanket. Percy wasn't sure what he was doing at first, but before he knew it he had entered the dreams of the young praetor. He couldn't make out much, just a few hazy shapes and colors here and there. Percy frowned. He didn't like it. It was too dull.

With a wave of his arms, the mindscape lit up in a spectrum of bright colors. Mushrooms and flowers towered over Percy, caterpillars with hookahs sat atop mushrooms snobbishly, and butterflies zoomed overhead pretentiously. A tall, blue-haired Jason wearing a top hat appeared, sipping tea and rattling about ravens and writing desks while he sat at a table with a high-backed chair. A white rabbit bounced around rapidly, almost too quick to follow with one's eyes. Soon, a black haired Percy wearing a blue and white frilly dress appeared. Percy giggled to himself as he watched Jason flirt with his other self, before leaving with a content sigh.

He loved Alice in Wonderland. And, that should give Jason something to think about in the morning, if how Percy had planned it to come out would actually happen. This was fun!


	8. Chapter VIII

I've realized sometimes the font might be different sizes, and for that I apologize.

 **Chapter VIII (did I get that right? I think so)**  
 **Why Hello Smol Latino Friend!**

Percy yawned as he woke up, rubbing his eyes sleepily. He sat up, and looked around him. He didn't have any water, sadly, so got up to get his own. He frowned slightly as he remember the events from last night. He was proud of his work, yes, but...he didn't feel like that was the best thing he could have done. Now he had a dull throbbing in his chest, an ache to his bones, the effect of wanting to die from a bond being broken but being unable to.

Percy almost wanted to lay back down for another day. Logically speaking, he knew it was the best thing he could have done. Grover, with his connection to Percy through the bond could only bring bad things, but still. His chest hurt, dammit! Percy blew some hair out of his eyes in annoyance, and walking along a narrow hallway.

He heard fast footsteps approaching him, and almost got ran over when Annabeth rushed into view. She was out of breath, her eyes were watery and she looked completely surprised by his presence in the hallway. Jason was right behind her, for some reason, looking almost as panicked as her.

"Percy! You're still alive!" Annabeth breathed out, sagging against the wall in relief. "You're alive." She murmured to herself. Percy looked over to Jason with disbelieving eyes, who looked almost as relieved as Annabeth.

"Why wouldn't I still be alive, exactly?" Percy asked slowly, eyes slowly sliding from blonde to blonde. Annabeth suddenly rose from the wall, eyes narrowed.

"Grover is missing. Or...dead. They found blood in the center of camp and Juniper doesn't know where he went, but she said she saw him right before he went to his sleeping quarters." _She did a lot more than just see him, I'll tell you._ Annabeth spoke shakily, but only slightly. She was a strong girl, and glared at Percy suspiciously.

"He-he's dead?" Percy parroted, feeling slightly foolish as he acted this out. Honestly. Boring. Annabeth analyzed him, probably examining his reactions.

"That's what...that's what Chiron and everyone else thinks, I know, but no one wants to actually say anything. I thought-I thought if you were dead, we'd know." _Wow. That's nice. I can see how much you care._

"I-I don't know. The bond...it hurts. My chest hurts, and my bones ache. But...I don't know. I'm sorry. I hope he's okay. But, Jason, why're you here?" Percy asked suddenly, shifting his attention to the taller man. And the most interesting subject. He was over Grover now. Gah, emotions. So hazardous and pointless.

"I was with Annabeth when she just took off, spouting nonsense of you being dead, when I was trying to tell her you couldn't be because you accepted the immorality. But she wouldn't listen." Annabeth looked slightly sheepish, but only for a moment.

"You can never be sure with life-bonds. I had to check." She snapped. Jason backed off, hands in the air. Percy was rather thankful for him wriling her up, causing her to forget his hapless change in subject. "I'm going to see what Chiron is going to do." She said, before leaving with a snap of her heel.

"Has she always been like this?" Jason asked after a moment.

"Only when she's scared or stressed. I've never been extremely close with her, but we did hang out a lot at one point." Jason nodded in understanding. Percy was starting to wonder if Jason even remembered the dream he had given him the night before, until Percy looked up at him through his fringe, and Jason suddenly looked frozen.

Percy smiled innocently. Jason continued to blandly blink at him. "I'm going to get some water. Would you like some?" Percy asked, looking over his shoulder as he walked away. Jason stared after him, before catching up and nodding.

Percy was cackling internally. Holy Hades this was so much fun! Soon he was handing Jason a plastic cup of water while holding one in hand for himself. He waiting until Jason was taking a drink to ask his question, just to confirm.

"What do a raven and a writing desk have in common?" Percy asked idly, causing Jason to choke suddenly on his drink. Percy moved out of the way as he coughed into his hand violently. "Are you okay?" Percy asked in concern, only for Jason to wave him off.

"Fine, fine, I just wasn't...expecting that."

"Why did you react like that?" _Mwhhahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahaha I'm amazing and you love me mwhahahahah  
_

"I...no reason, I guess." _Liar liar motherfucking fiery pants of doom on your cute ass!_

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Ooookay."

"I should probably go, see if Chiron or Leo or someone needs me, or train or...something." Jason said, wincing at his own excuses before leaving. Percy sighed, rolling his eyes. _Poor boy doesn't know what to do with himself when in my presence._

Percy fabulously flipped his hair while sipping his water. An idea struck him. He could leave now. Sure, his muscles ached but he could deal with it. _I should train. It's been awhile. Maybe I'll catch Jason.._.smirking evilly and cackling slightly, Percy jogged lightly to his room, changed his clothes and skipped to the training arena, Riptide twirling in his hand.

Percy was whistling lightly as he walked into the arena. It was empty, but that was fine. Preferable, even. He had never really liked to train out in the open anyways. He looked around himself. Should he bother with armor? No. Useless. He was thinking of bathing in the River Styx soon so he could become a bit more immune to pain, just in case. Rock wall? No, he wanted to slash and fight. He didn't want to climb. Percy turned to the simply hay dummies littering one wall. He shrugged and pulled one out. At least he could satisfyingly obliterate them.

He took his stance, a crooked smile coming to his face. He solidified his feet, squared his shoulders and steady his arms. He lunged. He did this with all the dummies until there were no more left. He was panting only slightly, an excited hop in his step. He missed sparing. FIghting Ares has been amusing, but he wanted to sword battle with someone, someone who was good. Good enough to stand a chance against him, anyways. But there hadn't been anyone at Camp who could do that since Luke had trained him.

He idly twirled his sword around, the balanced blade moving around his hand perfectly as he looked around, wondering what to do next. That's when he spotted someone at the door. "Hello. How long have you been standing there?" Percy asked, facing the shorter male.

"Not long, but dude, you're good. You're Percy, right?" He asked, walking forward. Percy nodded. The man was shorter than him by several inches, with dark skin and dark, curly brown hair.

"Yeah, that'd be me. You?"

"Leo Valdez, Hephaestus."

"You look like a Hephaestus kid."

"Thank you?"

"You're welcome. You wanna spar?" Percy offered offhandedly. Leo snorted like Percy was stupid for offering.

"No way I' going up against you after I saw that. Besides, I don't have a weapon yet. Haven't found any I like." Leo shrugged. Percy nodded in understanding.

"You'll find one you like eventually."

"I hope so. Good luck with the dummies man, I'll catch you around." Leo said, waving as he wandered off. Percy shrugged. That was a nice meeting. Percy spent the rest of the training session thinking. He wondered what kind of weapon would suit Leo the best. Really, it was hard to decide. Percy finally gave up roughly two hours after he entered the arena, trudging back to the infirmary, before he remembered he could go back to his own cabin. Percy trotted happily to his home cabin, sinking into his water bed once he got there, sighing in content.

He stared at the ceiling for several moments, seeing rabbits and raccoons and armadillos and chinchillas that weren't there running along the seams and cracks in his roof.

Percy sat up in his bed abruptly, a noise of triumph leaving his throat that scared the imaginary animals away. He'd just sneak into Hephaestus' palace and steal something that would suit Leo! It was brilliant. He might as well get rid of the big H while he was gone too. That way he didn't have to make an extra trip. Time saving all around!

Percy laid back down with a smile on his face. But when to plan it? He had gotten rid of Grover just last night, and was feeling rather legarthic, but what reason did he have to wait?

 _Well, Chiron could start getting overly suspicious._

Percy sighed. Well, that was rather bothersome. Now that he had come up with the excuse of murdering Ares and cursing Athena while under possession, what would happen if he went around dooming Hephaestus? They'd either assume he was lying (though really his acting was on point, he didn't think that would be their immediate conclusion) or that he was still being possessed. Percy grumbled to himself. Strategically taking over the world was so bloody complicated once you got down to the nit and grit.

He could get rid of Chiron, yes, but then the camp would be in complete disarray and Annabeth would no doubt suspect him. Growling, Percy turned over. He could frame someone. That wouldn't be too difficult. But still, that was more effort than he really wanted to put forth. He also wanted to get rid of the blubbering buffoon, Dionysus, but he'd be on lockdown after Chiron!

Percy whined. He punched the bed, sending him rocking, which made him feel better. Was there some way he could get rid of two in one go?

Percy jumped up. A lightbulb came to life over his head. He began cackling, falling back onto his groovy mattress. So simple! Though, it would take some time to organise, perhaps several days, if not weeks, but that was okay. The longer the took, the less susceptible he was to everyone else.

While he wasn't sure why he wanted to help Leo get a weapon, he was glad for his moment of charity, since it did lead him to creating plans to progress his whole taking-over-the-world plan. Ah, how the mind could create solutions to every problem.

* * *

Percy stood in a wide clearing in an undisclosed location, watching with a small smile as monsters of different kinds arrived, some snarling at him furiously, others shying away, recognizing his power, while some downright tried to attack him. He only made a sound and stared them down, causing them to fall on the ground, writhing in pain. Making a vague tch sound, he ignored the fallen bodies.

He waited for almost an hour before looking around in impatience. He didn't have a bad crowd going. A cyclops, two drakons, a troll and two ogres, many emposi and karpoi, and a hydra in the corner. Of course, he didn't need much. They were just a distraction, after all.

Many noises filled the clearing, chattering and buzzing, some growling, cackles and sneers, slurred english and many different languages. Percy let loose a tight-lipped smile. "Listen up!" He called out, spinning in a small circle. When the monsters ignored him, Percy huffed. He was already impatient enough. He wanted to get this over with. He had already waited a whole week to organise and launch his attack!

"I SAID LISTEN UP YOU FOUL, FILTHY CREATURES!" Percy screeched. The sound reverberated throughout the trees and bushes. The forest went silent, no noise from monsters or animals alike. Percy smiled. "That's more like it." He murmured to himself, before clapping. He wanted to clap. "Now, I've got a small mission for you. If you aid me, there will be a great reward." Percy promised enticingly. He was using his persuasive voice.

"And how could sssssomething ssssso worthlessssssss like a filthy human give usssss sssomething we want?" An empousa cut in. Percy glared sharply at her.

"Have you heard of the death of Ares, of the eternal curse cast upon Athena? You have, haven't you?" The monsters nodded uneasily. "Well, I'll tell you, some random flower didn't do it." Percy snapped. The group shifted uneasily again.

"How could something like you do that?" A karpoi asked snobbishly.

"I'm not normal. I'm a God, now, unfortunately, but now it's happened I'm making the most out of it. I'm going to destroy the other Gods. I'm going to take over. This is just a small step in my plans. If you help me, there will be great rewards in your future for when I build a better city in the ashes of Olympus. Now, are you ready to shut up and listen?" Looking around dangerously, Percy glared at the gathering. Several beings looked like they wanted to say something, but bit their tongues last minute. Percy nodded in satisfaction.

"Thank you. Now, I need you, to attack Camp Half-Blood." Immediate roars and snarls of disapproval erupted, but Percy waved them off. "I realize this group is not nearly large enough to take on the Camp and win. But I just need a distraction, so I can safely kill of the leader and the co-leader without someone detecting me so that I can further my plans of world domination. Following?" After some dissatisfied and grumpy replies, Percy forged on.

"Now. I want the hydra with me when I storm the big house." The hydra let loose a lash of fire in disapproval. It charred a few karpoi, who wailed and hissed in protest. Percy payed it no attention. "It's one of the hardest to kill. Normally, I would want the cyclops buddy, but he's going to be best at distracting the camp. But, if you could maybe smash the big hour, that would be appreciated." Murmured went around. They were uneasily allowing this plan. Self-preservation was strong, but the thought of ruling in the ashes of those who had wronged them was too enticing to pass up.

"This plan will be enacted tomorrow morning, when the sun is just breaching the horizon. You will storm, and slash, and if you kill and injure, I'm fine with that. But, there is one last detail which I need you to play special attention to." Percy continued quickly, sensing the monsters becoming restless.

"There are two people who can not be killed. Injured, fine, but not seriously. They are necessary to my plans." Percy reached into his pockets and pulled out two headshots he had bribed one of the satyrs to take for him. "Jason Grace and Leo Valdez. If you kill them, or injure them beyond a speedy recovery, I can promise you your fate will be worse than anything you could ever imagine." Percy said calmly, holding the pictures out and turning in a slow circle a few times to make sure everyone knew the image.

"Are we clear?" Percy called. He received no answer. "I said, ARE WE CLEAR YOU MUCUS TRODDEN RODENTS?" He screeched at them. A rush of agreements and affirmatives rustled around. Percy nodded to himself, stuffing the pictures back into his pockets.

One little creature he hadn't noticed at first waddled forward. If Percy had to guess it looked like some mutant baby emposi. It was an odd purple color, with a few tentacle-snake things in the place of arms and legs. "How are we supposed to get passed the border? It blocks monsters." Percy realized it was a female by the slightly high-pitched voice.

Percy faltered for a moment. Oh. He had forgotten about that. "Don't worry about it. Let me handle it." Percy waved off. The monsters shuffled about uneasily. "DON'T QUESTION ME. I SAY I'LL HANDLE IT, I'LL HANDLE IT. UNDERSTOOD?" The monsters flinched back. The majority, at least. Percy let a satisfied smile crossed his features.

"Good. I shall see you tomorrow. Be ready. You know your positions. Cause havoc. Injure. Kill. Distract. Occupy them. That is all. Dismissed!" The monsters left in various ways, and it was only several minutes later that Percy slumped to the ground. _Well, that went well._..it had taken some time to figure out how he was going to call them all, convince them to come, and find a place to meet, but he had figured it out, and now he could put his plan into action, with hopefully successful outcomes. If all went well, that is.

Percy could only hope. He left the clearing in a _woosh_ of black and green wisps. He reappeared back on his water bed, giggling as he swooshed around.

He got up ,feeling giddy. He needed to walk around, to lose some of this excess energy swirling around his system. He'd never be able to sleep like this! He walked around camp, wondering what time it was. Obviously after curfew, as the sun was set and not a single camper was insight, but probably not too far after, as he didn't hear the harpies coming. Percy walked over to the fountain, standing on it and walking along its rim. He hummed a low tune as he meandered around.

He pondered on his plan for the next day idly. He took a count of all the campers who would most likely be killed, how many he had a close relationship too. Leo, of course, because he had plans to get him a weapon from the Hephaestus cabin, and Percy couldn't even consider the thought of going back on that. He had already told himself he would, so of course he couldn't let Leo be killed.

And Jason, well...Jason was fun to play with, to manipulate emotions with and to experiment. He was also rather smart, and attractive. _He'd make a good companion...do I need a companion? I mean, Sharon and Pablo do make a funny soap opera, but listening to voices gets boring after awhile._ Sighing, Percy sat on the stream of water coming from the top, somewhat floating as it held him aloft.

Percy scrunched his nose. He felt like he was making excuses for himself. Oh well. At least he knew what he wanted. He didn't know why, but that was just the bread of the matter.

Was there anyone else important that he may have been missing? Hmmm…

Nico! He hadn't seen the boy in ages. Percy didn't even think he was in camp anymore. How could he have forgotten about Nico? Nico was too useful. Percy needed him. Well...he didn't need him, but Nico, if persuaded to his side could be very useful; however, if Percy wasn't able to bribe Nico onto his side...that could be detrimental to his plans.

Percy let out an agitated sigh. Why did taking over the world have to be so hard? Percy got off the stream, wondering over to the Hades cabin. He used his cool little teleportation power to shift himself inside (he needed a name for it. Nico had Shadow-Vanishing. How badass was that?) the cabin. He walked on silent feet through the shadows, not sensing any one. He sighed. He hoped Nico would stay away for a few more days, until the attack was over, at least. He didn't want Nico hurt, he could be too useful.

Percy teleported back to his own cabin, falling asleep to excited imagines or carnage and bloodshed.

Hey, what're you're guy's reading preferences? Out of curiosity. I like negative, with the screen black and the words white, because the other way around hurts my eyes. I also keep the text kinda big, and in the New Times Roman font.


	9. Chapter IX

I'm tired.

 **Chapter IX**  
 **Hello...Weird, Shadow Thing. Mind Helping Me Kill Shit?**

Percy slipped out of his cabin, wandering to the arch way. He examined in closely, glaring at it. If he concentrated, and held up his hand close to the invisible protective wall, he could see a dark red glare around his hand. Percy let out a long breath. That was the magic. The magic that kept the monsters away from camp borders. He poised a hand to his chin. Now. How to destroy it?

He looked around himself, examining the arch. What if he destroyed it? No, that probably wouldn't work. The arch was necessarily the vital part, it wasn't part of the magic itself, it was just connected to the magic. He looked outwards, toward the forest. He almost slapped himself for his own stupidity.

Muttering to himself, he crossed the border, stepping slowly towards Peleus, the drakon which protected Thalia's tree. Of course the tree would be the thing he needed to attack. If it wasn't keeping the borders together completely, they were certainly the main source. If Percy got rid of the tree, the magic should be at least weak enough for the monsters to cross with some effort.

He stopped several yards away from Peleus. He bit his thumb in thought. How to do this? He wasn't quite sure how well his powers would work on the creature, and at the same time he wanted to try something new. What if he…

Percy held his hands out in front of him, closing his eyes in concentration. He reached into his subconscious and tried to imagine his powers as a personification, a literal being, doing his dirty work for him. He grunted almost silently, willing the personification to become reality. To become a being. Percy almost sagged with the effort, eagerly fluttering his eyelids open to watch. From his hands came a wispy black smoke, twirling around his fingers, his hands, his arms up to his elbows before gathering on the ground in a seemingly endless puddle. It then gathered itself, presenting itself to Percy before him. Percy had to beam with pride. He felt like a father.

In front of him was a ghostly being, seemingly in the shape of a little girl who came up to his chest in her floating stance. It was hard to distinguish, everything being the same, blacker-than-black shade, but it almost looked as if a dress was floating about her, hair twirling around her razor sharp fingers and bony arms. He couldn't make out any facial features besides glowing white holes where her eyes should have been.

He made a shooing motion, and she took off in a spinny-sorta-movement to attack Peleus. The drakon stood up abruptly, waving its head about violently to dispel the black force attacking it. Percy watched with a growing smile as Peleus struggled, before collapsing, writhing on the ground as Percy's creature completely encompassed the drakon with black smoke. When the black smoke vanished, before becoming one solid being again, Peleus wasn't moving at all. Percy beamed. He strolled forward happily, jumping on Peleus and laughing as he jumped off again. The drakon didn't move. Sighing in content, Percy circled his creation. Really, it was brilliant, floating before him emotionlessly, ready to attack should he give the command. He tilted his head at it. He wondered if it could kill the tree. Percy looked at the tree. It was a magnificent, towering pine tree, topped with pine cones and stretching high into the night sky. Percy placed his hand on the bark. He could _feel_ the magic humming beneath his fingers. He stepped back, motioning once with his finger for his creation to attack it.

His creature wisped forward, wrapping around the base of the tree in a twirling mass. It circled, becoming faster and harsher, as though it was getting angry. Percy frowned as he watched. The form abruptly moved up, circling around various branches and going up the length before coming back down and resting at Percy's feet. Even though its face was emotionless, Percy couldn't help but think he could see rage and frustration in its glowing eyes.

He looked back at the tree. For some reason, his creation could attack it. He motioned to attack it again. His creature remained motionless. Maybe it knew it was futile?

Percy looked back to the tree. Maybe it just couldn't find a way to get into the tree? To attack it. Percy considered the thought. It sounded plausible. Percy pulled Riptide from his pocket, twirling it in his fingers, before he poised if like and ax and swung it violently at the tree. He repeated this, counting to ten before considering it. He felt like he made a big-enough dent. Percy motioned for her to attack it again. This time she flew forward, into the gap, and disappeared. Percy stepped back as the tree started to tremble in moments, quivering and shaking violently.

Percy could only smile in satisfaction as he watched the branches wither, the leaves turn brittle, the pine cones fall around him. Then, smaller branches fell. Percy looked towards the gap he had created, watching as it got larger and larger as the tree blackened, tilting as it started to fall.

Percy begun to worry that someone would hear the tree crash, and so rushed back to his cabin, trusting his creation to come back when it was done. He hardly made it to his cabin when he heard the earth-shaking crash rock the camp. Moments later, a black wisp flew under the door, becoming stationary in front of Percy, who was sitting on the floor, having been knocked over in the mini earthquake. He smiled.

"Is it dead?" His creation nodded it's head once. Percy smiled approvingly. "Good. Hmm...you need a name. What shall I name you?" Percy got to his feet, circling her. "Do you have a name?" She shook her head, otherwise motionless. Percy stopped in front of her, squinting as he tried to look into her glowing eyes. Finally, he smirked in triumph.

"Nightshade! I shall name you Nightshade, in honor of Zoe. Get it? Because it's Thalia's tree that you destroyed?" He waited for a response and received none. Percy huffed. "Of course you don't. You're no fun." Unable to get a rise out of the creature, Percy glared. "Dismissed." He said shortly. Nightshade vanished into the air.

Percy then strolled back into the camp, feeling the magical borders weaken as he entered. It made him feel proud of himself. He was going to be slowly destroying the camp, and so effectively too! Now, he just had to do one more thing to ensure nothing got fucked up in the chaos of battle the next morning.

When he made it to the big house, he quietly materialized inside. Now he had to locate the rooms. He knew they weren't upstairs. All that was up there was the attic. And no one wanted to go in there. Hmm. Maybe he should scavenge through that sometime to see if anything useful was in there. The hydra, who he had named Fluffy, was just supposed to mainly be a distraction, after all. He was disposable. So he shouldn't really damage the house. Of course, Percy would have him step and trample whatever part of the house they were in, to make it look like they had actually been killed by a monster, but he didn't think the attic would be damaged in the process.

Percy checked the adjacent hallways next. One lead to a small conference area that Percy vaguely recognized. The next one he tried, he came across to closed doors. Percy put his hand up to one, concentrating. Sweat beaded down his face slowly, but then he could sense it. He could sense the dreams, the mindless, inane creates that were meant to entertain the brain while someone slept.

He smiled, and did the same to the one across, finding the same thing. Nodding to himself, Percy stepped back. He wasn't sure how he wanted to do this. He could put them into eternal sleep like he did Athena, but he wanted to watch the fear in their eyes more than anything. Yes, it would be a bit more messy, but if Fluffy was going to stomp on the house that didn't really matter. Really, it was just a choice of whether he wanted to have fun or making neat and quick.

Percy wasn't a very organized person by nature anyway.

"Nightshade." Percy called lightly, feeling the enigma leave his body even before he had fully summoned her. The thing. It. He wasn't sure what to call Nightshade. He'd figure it out later. He tapped his lip. She was him, so she should know what he meant, for the most part. "Trap." He commanded. Nightshade spun in a slow circle in between the two rooms, gaining speed as it went. It spun faster and faster, dress-thingy flaring out and touching the two doors from the middle of the highway. The shadows jumped from the dress, onto the doors, crawling up and attaching themselves before seemingly disappearing completely. Nightshade once again held still, waiting for his command. Percy put a hand to the door. He could feel the dark magic humming beneath his palm, unseeable, but palpable in its intent. He tried to touch the knob, but his hand was forced back. He imagined it would be much worse for someone else, should they try.

"Good. Dismissed." Percy said lightly. Nightshade disappeared. Percy smiled, giddy as he walked happily back to his cabin.

Percy went to bed. His plan was ready. All he had to do was wait for the attack, which should be happened around six thirty, when campers were still sleeping and unaware. Percy relaxed into his bed sheets. He had a big day tomorrow. He needed all his energy. Taking over the world was a long, tiring process. (Just like writing this shit)

* * *

Percy awoke to the sounds of screaming. He smiled, took his time leisurely stretching, before grabbing his sword and strolling towards the door of his cabin. He waited for a few more moments, listening to the sweet sound of screams as the campers tried to fight off the small group of monsters. Then, Percy rushed out. He looped around the cabins, heading for the big house while staying out of sight. He had all the time he needed of course, but someone might finish off Fluffy, and he actually needed him to destroy the Big House.

He walked in quietly through the front door, feeling eyes on him as he did so, but he was pretty sure it was just a monster, and if it wasn't he could say he had gone to try and get some help. He wasn't in much trouble there.

"Nightshade." He summoned as he walked. She (he decided on calling it a she) materialized and floated in pace with him as he walked. He looked between the two doors. He could here yelling from one, and hoof clops from the other. He decided to go with Dionysus first, because he wasn't sure how long his trapping thing would work on a God.

He smiled, and vanished from the hallway, reappearing in front of Dionysus, who abruptly stopped shouting and yelling as Nightshade appeared slightly behind him. "Boy! What is the meaning of this?" He yelled, towering over Percy, practically turning purple in his anger. Percy smiled sharply.

"It's a simple concept. Have you had any wine lately? I want you to be able to keep up with me. See, you're annoying, and will get in my way. You're also useless and have no real purpose. So I'm getting rid of you. You're just a nuisance, really." Percy murmured, almost to himself. Dionysus fumed.

"You think you can get rid of me, you mortal! I am a God! You rotten kids bow down to me!" Dionysus shouted. Percy tutted.

"No, I don't like the attitude at all. I think we'll have to change that immediately." Percy sighed. "Nightshade, partial slaughter." Faster than Dionysus could follow, Nightshade darted forward, snapping one if his arms, and returning back to position. Dionysus screamed in pain briefly, before ichor started to swell in the wound and it healed itself. Dionysus laughed.

"You can't get rid of me, I told you. You can't kill me, no matter how you do it." He cackled. Percy frowned.

"I'll keep that in mind. Really, I just want to hear you scream. Nightshade, leg." She shot forward, ripping his leg off cleanly and leaving it neatly next to Percy. Dionysus gasped, falling onto the floor and groaning loudly. "Tell me, who do the Gods think was forcing me to kill them?" Percy asked, circling the trembling God, his leg slowly materializing again in place.

"Why would I tell you, you little snot-nosed brat?" Dionysus spit at him.

"Because I can kill you in a moment if I deem it fit. Tell me." Percy ordered.

"You can't kill-"

"Other leg."

Dionysus screamed out in pain. His body was already working harshly to fill out the last leg, and was having difficulty repairing the new wound. "Oceanus! They think it's Oceanus, the titan." Dionysus panted out. It was draining him, trying to send enough blood to his legs to fix them like they could millions of cuts and scrapes.

"A titan? Oceanus? Makes sense, I suppose. He could most likely easily persuade me, or overtake me, since he is part of the water." Percy murmured.

"What is wrong with you?" Dionysus finally asked in a hushed whisper.

Percy smiled. "Funny question. I don't think I'll answer that, however. Nightshade, cut the blood flow, will you dear?" Once again, Nightshade shot forward, into Dionysus and through him. The God choked on his own breath as he staggered back. Nightshade reappeared as Dionysus trembled and feel back.

"I told you I'd change your attitude. I was hoping I could get more fun out of you, but it looks like we're gonna end it here. At least I got some information. Time to visit Chiron! Goodbye, Dino! Hope you have a horrible afterlife!" Percy giggled, before exiting the room. Dionysus was dead, body still twitching as his heart pumped, trying to get blood flowing but being unable to.

Next was Chiron. Percy did much the same thing he did with Dionysus, appearing suddenly. Chiron was pacing when he appeared, but jumped back suddenly and almost kicked him in the chest when he reared back on his hind legs for a moment. Chiron had a deathly look on his face. He only paled when Nightshade appeared, currently docile at Percy's side.

Percy smiled. "Hello, Chiron."

"Perseus." He whispered. "But I don't believe it's you. You're still possessed. And now the thing that is possessing your body has come to kill me. Reveal yourself! Don't be a coward hiding behind a mortal shell!" Chiron bellowed, surprising Percy.

 _Wow. He actually still doesn't think it's me. I thought he was suspicious. Of course, I guess I was his favorite, in a way, if I do say so myself. Hmm…._

"Why, good guess, horsey. Tell me; who am I?" Percy taunted, going along with the lie Chiron had set up for him. Percy opened his arms, sword now in his pocket once more.

Chiron got a new light in his eyes; hope. Hope that it wasn't truly Percy that was coming to kill him. Hope that Percy could be restored to himself. "Oceanus. One of Kronos' five brothers." Chiron said strongly, even with a slight quiver in his voice. Percy admired his courage.

"I'll admit, you're smart. Shame it won't save you here, though. Would you like to meet my pet?" Percy asked, smirking as he gestured to Nightshade, who rustled slightly. Chiron's white coat seemed to be shedding.

"Let Perseus go. Whatever someone did to spite you, you don't need to slaughter millions." Chiron ignored Percy's question, backing himself up slightly.

Percy frowned. "I never said anything about killing millions. I just have to kill those that get in my way. Including Dionysus, Grover, Ares, Athena, and of course, my pet and I got rid of Thalia's tree last night so that the monsters could be let in. Now, I am sadly slightly rushed for time, so I'll make it quick. Unless you'd like me to leave and leave you to be squished by the hydra?" Percy giggled, snapping his fingers. Nightshade flew forward, going right between the space where Chiron's body melted from horse to human. Chiron's hand flew out to deflect her, but as his hand moved through her ghostly form, he screamed, the skin of his hand melting off the bone. Soon, his hand was forgotten as he clutched his throat. He fell to the ground, legs bending at awkward angles. Percy rolled his eyes, and walked out. Now he just had to get Fluffy to step on this side of the house and join the battle for a little while, kill the last few monsters that would probably still be around.

He found Fluffy waiting for him outside the front of the cabin, Percy sent out Nightshade to lead him, and the two were off. Percy darted into battle, seeing most Demi-Gods still trying to get rid of the cyclops, while others were fighting off a troll, and a few killing off the last remaining emposi. Percy rushed at the cyclops, where Jason, Annabeth, Piper, and Frank were attacking it. The cyclops stopped momentarily when seeing him, giving Frank a chance to cut a deep gash in his leg. He cyclops roared, flinging his arms. Annabeth was smacked with one hand, sending her flying into a fountain, where she didn't get up.

Percy wanted to wait a bit longer, to see if she would get up, but if he didn't he'd look suspicious. It was already bad enough he hadn't been around for most the battle, but that could be easily looked over. Then Piper managed to stab the cyclops in the ankle, where he round-house kicked her and Jason. Blood boiling for some reason he didn't know, Percy took a leap from the ground, giving out a battle cry as he sunk his blade into the heart of the monster. The cyclops staggered back, breath labored and eyes betrayed and hate-filled as he stared at Percy, who twisted the blade sharply several times. He jumped off as the cyclops fell back. When he hit the floor with a vibration Percy felt in his hair, Percy didn't bother to retrieve his sword.

He rushed to the fallen, checking for a pulse on Jason, since Frank was checking Piper. He felt a light heart beat, pumping frantically. Percy felt anger fill him. He had told the stupid monsters not to seriously harm Jason or Leo! The stupid cyclops could have murdered him! Percy growled under his breath.

"Are you growling?" Jason asked weakly, startling Percy.

"What? No. You're hallucinating. Go to sleep, I'll get you to the med center." Percy urged, feeling a slight blood rush to his face. Jason ignored him and sat up. He wheezed slightly.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Other people probably need it more. Where were you?" Jason asked, eyes almost accusatory.

"I got caught up with a hydra." Percy explained helping Jason stand. And a dead hydra should be found near the Big House, if Nightshade had understood her duties correctly. Jason raised an eyebrow at him.

"You killed it by yourself?" He asked in disbelief.

"Dude, I just killed a cyclops."

"That we had injured and had been attacking."

"Still! Does that count for nothing?" Jason laughed at him. Percy huffed. "Alright, let's get you to your cabin then. There should be some ambrosia there for you to take." Rolling his eyes, Jason let Percy lead him. Then he stopped him suddenly.

"You don't look very dirty." Jason commented, beginning walking again. Percy almost stopped walking. How could he have forgotten that?

"I ate some ambrosia on my way from the hydra. And my clothes are special, Dad made them. They repair themselves." _Wow. That was a damn good save. Go me._

Jason raised an eyebrow. "That's handy." Percy nodded in agreement.

"Now stop talking, you'll wear yourself out more." Percy commanded. Jason snorted, but otherwise allowed Percy to lead him to his cabin through the damage and clutter and ruins of the camp. Admittedly, it wasn't very bad, it had been in worse conditions, but it was still badly damaged.

It would get repaired though. And when that happened, Percy would destroy it again.

GUYSSS WE'RE ALMOST AT THE BIG X  
Feels?


	10. Chapter X

BIG X BIG X BIG X BIG X BIG X

 **Chapter X**  
 **Well, Shit. Now I Have to Deal With This Fucker, and Now She Needs to Die Too!**

Percy had decided to wait. It had taken almost an hour after the last of the monsters had been destroyed for someone to find the bodies of the camp leaders. That night had been spent in mourning. No fire was lit. No songs sung. The campers discussed taking shifts to protect the borders, but in the end they decided against it, in fear of more of their ranks being taken by harpies.

As Percy had hoped, it was quickly deducted that Chiron and Dionysus had been killed by the house being crushed on top of them while they were sleeping in the early morning. There had been other casualties as well. Shane, from the Hephaestus cabin, Miranda Gardner, the sister of Katie Gardner from Demeter, the last remaining occupant from the Dionysus cabin, Pollux, and Annabeth, had all died in the battle. People moved sluggishly about the camp, always looking over their shoulder, flinching at particularly loud noises or seemingly random rustles of trees. Finally people couldn't stand not being protected, and had asked the Gods for help.

The 'help' arrived in a bright flash of light in the middle of braziers flashed and flared dangerously, roaring high and hot, illuminating the faces of the campers long after the brief light had vanished. In the place of the light stood a crouched figure, blinking his eyes rapidly.

"Damn Apollo. He always flashes me places without warning me." He man apologized. "Hello, campers. I'm Terminus. Protector of boundaries. Zeus sanctioned me here." He said, turning in circles to address the whole camp while giving an inviting smile.

Jason walked forward, standing tall. "You're the one they model all the busts of, right? Like the one in Camp Jupiter?" Jason was roughly an inch taller than Terminus, the height difference apparent.

"Yes. Though that isn't the only place." Terminus said, backing up slightly to accommodate for the difference. He frowned slightly.

"How come we don't have a bust instead?" Jason raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms. Leo came up to stand on his left side. Terminus' frown depended.

"It takes time to craft them, with the proper enchantments and spells and protection charms. Hephaestus is making one now, but until then I'm here." Jason narrowed his eyes.

"What do you need to do to...protect, and everything?"

"I just need to be around. Patrol the camp borders. Refresh them. I'll usually have to stay somewhere around there until they settle themselves."

"Good. You do your thing. You don't need to be troubled with the rest of it. I've got it covered." Jason planted his feet. Terminus raised an eyebrow.

"I'm just here to help you."

"Besides protecting the camp, we don't need it. Saves you the trouble of worrying about us. You can put more effort towards protecting the camp to the best of your abilities."

"And you're going to run the camp by yourself?"

"No. I have Leo, and Percy, and Nico when he's available. But I've run a camp with just one other, so I think we can manage." Jason stood tall, raising his chin.

Percy raised an eyebrow himself. He had not been consulted in this. Not that he was particularly complaining. That would make movement throughout the camp easier, if he had more authority. Though, that could also add more responsibilities to his plate, possibly causing detrimental effects on his end goal, but he would work around it. He always did.

He figured he should stand as well. He took his place on Jason's other side. Terminus backed up again, eyes narrowing on Percy.

"Percy Jackson? The one who killed Ares and cursed Athena, yes?"

"I was possessed." Percy growled, taking a step forward. Jason placed a hand on his chest to hold him back. "You think I wanted to kill them? You think I wanted to hurt them?"

"Calm. Your. Shit." Jason said lowly. Percy huffed.

"Yes, I was informed of your possession." Terminus said. "I understand my directions. Good luck with running the camp. Where is the archway?" Terminus addressed Jason at this, ignoring a growling Percy completely.

"That way."

Terminus left with a small wave. With a look to each other, Leo and Percy grabbed Jason by the arms and hauled him away. Percy knocked them off him after a minute, rolling his eyes as he followed them away from the rest of the camp.

"What was that about, Jase?" Leo asked immediately. Jason sighed.

"I don't want the Gods bothering us. He's obviously here to watch us, and report back. I think he has some suspicions about Percy."

"No shit Sherlock. But you going all Terminator on him won't give us any five star reviews, you know." Leo said, making a wild gesture. Percy remained silent. "And how are you going to run Camp Half-Blood by yourself?"

"I already said. I'm not doing this by myself. I'll have you, and Nico, and Percy-I assume." Jason suddenly looked sheepish. Percy waved him off.

"I've been in this camp since I was twelve. I'd risk my life for it in a heartbeat." He said quickly. _Heuheuheuheuheuheuheu_. Jason nodded.

"And I'm sure the other campers will help out to get it up and running properly again. We can do this. Sure, we need something to protect the borders, but once we have the bust, that won't be a problem, and the Gods can keep their noses out of our faces; as much as they can, at least." Jason grumbled in an afterthought.

Leo shook his head, a small smile playing his lips. "You're crazy, man. But I got you. I'm going to finish my meal. Terminiouses or whatever did interrupt my delicious burger, after all." Leo said in farewell, before taking off. Jason snorted.

"Crazy Latino's." He murmured under his breath, making Percy laugh. "Do you actually think we'll be able to take care of the camp with Chiron gone, Percy?" Jason asked quietly, glancing sideways at Percy.

Who, of course, being Percy, adopted a flirty expression. "I think you'll do great, Jason." He said, smiling and batting his eyelashes. "I'm going to go eat before mealtime is over. You should too." Percy called over his shoulder as he walked away, leaving Jason blinking at him with confusion in his eyes. Once he was facing away from the blond, a smile came across Percy's face. Jason would soon be next to him throughout his activities, assisting him with his assassinations and eliminations, soon enough. And he would be right there, beside Percy, where he could best be protected.

Percy sat at his table once again. Now that things had settled down a bit (he didn't think Terminus would be bothering him soon) Percy could start actually planning for his adventure to Hephaestus' palace.

Of course, Terminus was still extremely annoying. He honestly thought Percy wasn't possessed! How dare he! Percy was an amazing actor, and felt affronted at the very thought of someone not believing his lies. He worked hard to make sure he stayed completely protected, to make sure no one was aware of what was happening. The nerve of some people!

Oh, but Jason had been hilarious. He actually believed that Percy would still risk his life for this camp. Sure, once, he would have. But now, what did this camp matter? Percy could move on from it. He had nothing to learn from it. He couldn't grow anymore. Couldn't get better. This camp was worthless to him. He supposed he could keep it to train those he recruited, but who did he really need? There were those that were useful, but he didn't really need anyone else to help him. He didn't need to recruit people. He supposed there still would need to be a camp to train the remaining Demi-Gods once he got rid of all the useless Gods. But did he really need them? Why couldn't he just watch them as they slowly got killed off, letting the monsters overrule? Hm. Wasn't that a fun thought.

Percy sighed, feeling as though the weight of the world was on his shoulders. Really. Overtaking the world took a lot of angst-y thought that he didn't appreciate. It was so tedious. Too much turmoil. He'd rather just kill them all in one fell swoop, but that would be took quick. Yes, this was time-consuming. Yes, it was a challenge, but who didn't love a good challenge? Stimulate the brain and all that. Besides, this was so much more fun!

Smiling into his blue coke (a thing he still had a deep affection for) to hide his grin, Percy giggled to himself. Time. That was all he needed. _Time_.

And then it would all be his.

"Wibbly-wobbly timey-whimey, wibbly-wobbly timey-whimey, wibbly-wobbly timey-whimey…" Percy chanted to himself, making ripples in the smooth surface of his drink, smile stretching his face.

* * *

Percy grumbled silently to himself as he walked quietly throughout the camp. The veil of night had long since covered them in her chilling cloak, and nothing but the sound of birds in the distance and his light footsteps disturbed the silence. It was a nice quiet, very calming and peaceful, which was a rare thing within the walls of Camp Half-Blood. Not that he could properly enjoy it, anyway. There were too many voices in his head to let him bask in complete silence.

Jason had kept him busy the past week, calling him for discussions on certain problems, asking for his advice on how to fix certain things, asking for references on how things used to look, opinions, suggestions, all the like. Yes, Percy enjoyed his company and took the time to make Jason flustered whenever he could, but this was boring! Time was being taken out of his careful days to fix the camp he was planning to destroy. He was moving backwards and it annoyed him. He had been hoping to go out during the daytime, but over the past few days he realized that wasn't likely to happen soon, so he set his goals to nighttime.

It wasn't as if he needed his beauty sleep, but it was appreciated nonetheless when he got it. Otherwise he was just irritable and had a tough time thinking out problems.

And now be had Bust-Boy to deal with, ugh. Yes, he stayed out of their way, but Percy could constantly feel suspicious eyes on him. Watching him, analyzing him, just waiting for him to make a mistake. A small infraction, that was all that was needed. Not that Percy planned to let Bust-Boy get that, anyways. He wasn't stupid. Some days he did want to take a hammer and smash his head, pretending it was marble as blood splattered over his face and clothes, but alas, he couldn't do that just yet.

He edged himself along the border walls as he walked, making his way to the entrance archway. This is where it would begin to be a bit tricky, as this is where Bust-Boy favored to linger. Percy did his best to cover himself with shadows, but he wasn't sure how well he did. Soon, he could see him, leaning against one of the pillars of the arch, chin resting on his chest as he breathed.

Percy blew some hair out of his eyes. Hopefully, he was in a deep enough sleep for Percy to easily get out and back in when he came back. Mentally sending out a small vibration, Percy closed his eyes and waited for a response. When he was sure that Terminus was unconscious to the point of not being woken up by his small trespass to the barrier, he moved.

He felt the magic of the arch clinging to his skin. It was different from the light, friendly magic that would carass his face as he passed, the magic that was Thalia's tree. This magic was hostile; it didn't like him. He felt it humming angrily as it begrudgingly let him past, and practically felt it spitting him out once he crossed the border. He huffed, flipped off the invisible magic, and set off. So much trouble for this one little meeting he was hoping to achieve.

Of course, if things went as he hoped, this would continue to move the ball in his favor, drastically manipulating the game with him ahead of the carnage that would be left in the wake. He just had to find a monster and not kill it.

He wandered the woods for awhile, surprised at how long it took for something to come at him. He was a child of one of the Big Three, already enhancing his scent, making it more enticing, but since he was now partially a minor god, didn't that make him smell even more appetizing to monsters? Hmm. Maybe he should get a monster cook book to figure out how high his rating was now.

He could sense dawn on the horizon when something finally rustled the bushes to his right. He moved quickly away from the disturbance, neatly stepping aside as a little right rabbit came zipping past. Huffing, Percy turned on his heel and started to head back to camp. All that for nothing?

And then he heard it. The near-silent hiss of movement. He snapped his head around, just in time to dodge out of the way of an attack. It was nothing but a meek emposi, but anything catching him off-guard could be very bad. She circled him, spitting and hissing. Then she lunged for him again. Percy summoned Nightshade, who flung herself out of him and onto the snake-lady, immobilizing her. Smiling, Percy brushed himself off, facing the terrified emposi.

"Well hello there. Now, I just want to say a few things, then you can leave with your pitiful life.

"My name is Percy Jackson." Percy suspected that her eyes would have widened if she could move at all. "As you may have heard, I am on a mission to kill the majority of the Gods, including Zeus, and am planning to take over the mortal world once that happens. But, for this to work, I do need help from you monsters as a group alike. Of course, you shall get power in return. But this does take a lot of planning, and as sometimes I confuse myself, I'll keep it simple for you.

"I want you to spread a rumor that Oceanus is possessing me. Yes, the titan. I want you to tell everyone you know that Oceans is possessing Percy Jackson. Every monster you come across. I want this message to be known. I want it to seem like you lot are teaming up with him and the information got leaked. I want the Gods to know about it. But they mustn't know that I am making you say this. It must seem as though it was an involuntary. Now, I'm going to release you. Attack me, you die. Do nothing, you live." Percy whistled harshly, and Nightshade returned to him.

The emposi collapsed to the ground, breathing harshly. "Do you understand your orders?"

"Yessssssssssssssssssssss." She hissed, wheezing slightly. Percy smiled in satisfaction.

"Good, you are dismissed." Percy made a vague shooing motion, and after spitting at him shortly, she slithered off. Percy snorted and made his way back into camp. He'd wait a bit before his next outing, give the mill some time to turn, let the grapevine grow a little. In the meantime, there were a few things we wanted to inspect in hopes of finding something useful.

* * *

He had been simply eating when it happened. When the bright sunshine took on a suspiciously green hue, and the pavilion grew silent in sync. He turned around, and there Rachel sat in her chair, mouth gaping open, green fog spewing from it, eyes glassy and unseeing.

 _"_ _In the shadows he awaits, causing destruction in the skies,  
Wearing a veil, a mask of lies,  
Olympus, at his hands, its fate looks grim,  
At his feet, someone with the power to stop him,  
Unaware by both madman and savior,  
One man will stop his misbehavior."_


	11. Chapter XI

I'm a weakling. It's not even one a.m. and I think I'm sleepy enough to go to bed. *sigh*

 **Chapter XI**  
 **OOOOOOO SHINY BATTLESHIP**

Percy paced wildly in his cabin, on the verge of smashing things. How dare she give off another stupid prophecy, at this time? He still had so much to do! And she was going to ruin it! And just as he was about to recruit his first God, dammit! This was sooooo not the time to be fucking up his plans.

Angrily moving about his cabin, he picked up a random vase. He wanted to smash it, to throw it against the far wall as hard as he could, but instead he set it back down. No. He wasn't going to take his rage out on some inanimate object.

He was going to take it out on the person who threatened to fuck up all his plans. But it was still before curfew, and he huffed in frustration. He didn't want to wait. He wanted to tear her into shreds now. Maybe she was already asleep. Didn't having the job of Evil-Plan-Ruiner tire her out? Maybe he could go now, and just make sure he wasn't spotted. She lived in a weird cave off the edge of camp, like a hermit or a hobbit or something, didn't she?

Rage clouding sense, Percy stomped off. It was so obvious! Now that Annabeth was dead, maybe he had more time before people started figuring it out, but regardless, he would have to move his plans along more quickly. He slammed the door to his cabin shut, and just barely remembered to breath and not look like a sociopath before he took a back-track around the cabins. He came as far as the pavilion before he stopped. Campers were milling about, shuffling along on heavy feat, faces grim.

He couldn't do it now. Not so soon. And certainly not in broad daylight. That was like having a giant arrow pointing at him, stating Prophecy Boy on it. He sighed, and went back to his cabin. He was still so furious. Maybe he could vent in the lake?

He ran over to the beach, throwing off his shirt on the way. As soon as he was on the edge of the deck he jumped off. He sank into the water, and propelled himself to the bottom of the ocean. _God damn fucking redheads._ He stayed there, at the bottom. A few water nymphs swam up to him, expecting him to converse with him as he always did.

They stayed away after he suffocated one of them in an air bubble, anyways.

Eventually, the cool veil off night had fallen over the camp. Darkness shrouded his surroundings, the air licking his skin for the first time in hours after he finally resurfaced. He smiled thinly. He was dry when he got out of the water, the wet sand sticking to his dry converse.

Now he could do it. The water had calmed him, but as soon as he was released into the air's dry arms, rage surrounded him again, clouding common sense and any completely rational thought that may have occurred to him.

He walked straight to where he could remember her secluded cave being. Maybe if it was far enough, he could finally enjoy making one of his victims scream.

Alas, though it took him several minutes to find the thing, he didn't deem it far enough to let her scream. A curtain of beads served as a door, and upon entree, he noticed paint splatter covering the walls. Random paintings and canvasses were all over, with scattered bean bag chairs and-was that a TV? Lucky bitch! There were various other things, but he didn't pay them much attention. It was a literal woman cave. He rolled his eyes, stepping further into the cave.

Now he could see her, still passed out in one of the bean bag chairs, laying spread eagle, drool dripping out of one corner of her mouth as he snored loudly. Wasn't that an attractive sight? He sneered, uncapping Riptide. Twirling the sword around, he wondered how he should kill her. There were many ways, after all.

He finally shrugged, and let the cool metal of his sword rest gently on her neck. Her eyes fluttered open. Rachel didn't see much besides a twisted, vengeful smile, before she was choking on her own blood.

* * *

Jesus, waiting for a God to come back home to his palace was _boring_. Here Percy was, sitting in a chair seven sizes too large for him, practically falling asleep, for _hours_ now, and Hephaestus didn't even have the decency to show up before he forgot his speech? How rude! It wasn't as if he had ages to just wait around. He would like to get back before he was found missing and Rachel was found dead. He kicked his feet idly. He couldn't leave now, he wanted to get this done before Hephaestus decided to leave him because he killed Rachel. And wouldn't that be horrible? He couldn't have that.

He was actually starting to doze off when the bright flash had him sitting upright in the throne he sat in. It took him a mere moment to fix his smirk onto his face, to clear the fuzziness out of his eyes and to righten himself, but he did it before Hephaestus turned around and realized he wasn't alone.

The God stood still, eyes narrowed. "You're the Jackson boy." He said, his scarred face twisting as he spoke. Percy's smirk grew.

"Indeed I am."

"What are you doing here, within my palace walls?" Hephaestus slowly walked up to him. In his current state, he towered over Percy by several feet, his broad frame blocking the light from hitting Percy's face. But Percy wasn't scared. Even if he was, showing intimidation right now would ruin all his plans. And now, he couldn't afford another setback.

"Several reasons. You may have heard the rumor that Oceanus has been possessing me?" Hephaestus nodded. "Yes, well, that's a lie."

"That doesn't answer my question."

Percy sighed. "You're boring. Simply said, I am here because I am on a mission, and I need your help, as much as I loath to admit it." Hephaestus raised a shredded eyebrow. He stood directly in front of Percy now, though standing up in the throne allowed Percy to be eye level. An ax rested casually in his right hand, the whole thing the size of Percy's leg.

"What mission?" Hephaestus' tone portrayed no emotion. Percy could only help he was considering his offer and not getting as much information as he could before smiting Percy on the spot for fun. Maybe he wouldn't do it because Percy was in his throne and he didn't want to get it dirty? Whatever the reason, Percy continued to talk quickly.

"Overall, my mission is to rule. But to do that, I need help. I've already enlisted the assistance of the monsters, promising them a position of power under my rule. And, I also need the help of a few Gods and Goddesses, such as yourself."

"What do you need me for, exactly?"

"Weapons. Armor. Ideally, I was hopping you could upgrade Riptide to have the power to kill the Gods, and if not something similar that could."

"Who do you plan to kill?" Now he was just getting on Percy's nerves. He didn't know if he was making any headway at all. He could just be spilling all his plans on Hermes TV for all he knew! Trying to fight the growing instinct to fight and then flee, Percy forged on, fingers twitching. He could feel Nightshade under his skin, within his mind, ready to attack and defend him. But he held off.

"I've already eliminated Ares and Athena. There are various others, but my end goal is to get rid of Zeus." Percy mentally cringed. He hated stating his plan out loud, so casually, like he didn't have anything at stake. But it had to be done. He would probably need to do it again, to get the rest of the Gods he wanted on his side.

"Wasn't a prophecy given just earlier tonight? I believe it was describing you?" Percy frowned.

"Unfortunately. True, it is forcing me to speed my plans along, but no matter. She is disposed of, and won't be making another prophecy again."

Now he just admitted to murdering a mortal. Great. This was going so well. Percy was ready to have Nightshade attack when suddenly, Hephaestus smiled. "I'm in."

Percy blinked. "Just like that?" Hephaestus nodded.

"I'm tired of Zeus treating us like toddlers with no privileges. Besides, I've been itching to try something new to make. One request, though." Percy drew back, eyes narrowing.

"What?"

"I get to kill Aphrodite."

Percy gave a wicked smile. "Done and done. Now, I have a quick favor to ask of you."

* * *

Percy waved to various campers as he walked by. A few people asked about the yellow tool belt slung over his shoulder, but he waved them off and simply said it was a gift. It took him awhile to find Leo in the huge camp, and he finally had to ask his cabin members where the boy had gone.

He was lead to a huge stretch of stone on the borders of camp. He stared around confusedly for a few moments, identifying some minute cracks in the oddly straight stone wall, along with some dark, rougher patches. This _had_ _to be_ thing Jake was talking about, Percy reasoned with himself. What else could be the 'giant mass of stone that has burn marks all over it'?

Percy sent out Nightshade, glancing around nervously. She slipped into the cracks on the wall like a wisp of cloud, leaving Percy to repeatedly look around his shoulder in search of people who may see him.

Suddenly, the stone moved. Dust fell, the ground shook, and with the loud groaning noise the stone made as it moved, Percy was heavily convinced it was alive. He waited a moment to make sure it was done moving, trusting Nightshade to cover herself or slip back when she would be unnoticed. Percy didn't even manage to take a full step into the place before he was assaulted with a fiery Latino.

"Percy!" Leo exclaimed, startled. He diminished the flame in his hand, but Percy was still glancing worriedly at his smoking hair. Leo patted it, waving him off. "What're you doing here? How'd you get in?"

"The same way you do?" Percy attempted with a sheepish smile. Leo snorted.

"With a huge blast of fire? Really, Aquaman, how'd you get in?" Leo tilted his head, genuine curiosity in his eyes. Percy let himself relax a little. Leo had nothing against him.

"We all have our secrets, don't we?" Percy shrugged. "To be honest, I'm not quite sure. I just kinda...touched it, and it opened." Again, Percy shrugged.

"Huh."

"Yeah."

"Neat."

"Yup."

"So why're you here, in my bunker of all places?"

"Bunker?"

Leo lit up like a candle. "Bunker nine! I found it a while ago. It's where I found was able to repair Happy."

"You found the secret to happiness and incorrect grammar in a bunker in a giant slab of stone?"

Leo rolled his eyes. "No, Happy the Dragon. The giant metal dragon that me, Jase and Pipes used to do the whole, 'quest' thing?" Leo lead him into the bunker. It was shiny. And a mess. Tools littered the place, bulletin boards covered the room, each packed with papers and blueprints. Off to the side was a pile of scrap metal, on top of which a golden briefcase sat. Percy raised an eyebrow. "That would be Happy. He's sleeping right now, so I switched his modes so he didn't take up as much space. Don't tell him I told you he's fat, though, he'd try and burn me, and then all papers would get ruined."

Percy was lead father into the bunker. It was huge, towering above him and spreading out on all sides. The stone structure hadn't been that big, had it?

"And why'd you name it 'Bunker Nine?'"

Leo silently pointed upwards. Stretching his neck, Percy spotted a banner, reading **Bunker 9** in bold, metallic letters. "Hephaestus cabin is number nine. You never answered my question by the way."

Leo collapsed into a little spinny chair. Percy only noticed then that he was covered in grease. His hands were filthy, with Hades-knew-what under his nails and in the creases of his palms. His clothes were torn and ripped, and dark circles were under his eyes.

"Have you been sleeping at all?"

"Not really. I've been working on something. I'm trying get it ready so it's good to go whenever we need it, which will probably be soon, no matter if everything 'cleared' with Gaea after Jason came back. With the Gods and Goddess dying...who knows?" Leo sighed heavily. Then he brightened.

"But I'm good. I can handle it. Now, you decided to delight me with your presence because…?" Leo trailed off.

Percy finally pulled the tool belt off and handed it to Leo. He took it, blinking.

"Cool. Make it easier to transport stuff, I guess." Leo nodded. "Thanks, Perce."

Percy smiled. "Please, a simple tool belt? We're Demigods. Try it on." Percy urged, making little motions with his hands. Leo raised an eyebrow, but looking moderately more excited now, he fixed the yellow garment around his waist, which automatically adjusted to fit his slim hips perfectly.

"Woah." He breathed. He moved around a bit, but the belt didn't jostle. He put his hand in one of the openings, and came back with a nail. He looked transfixed now. "How'd you get this? What does it do? Where'd you find it?" Leo asked in rapid fire, annoying Percy slightly, even as he laughed.

"Calm down dude. It's been floating -literally, there's a big fish tank- around my cabin for awhile, I've never known what to do with it or even what it was, for a while, but then I figured out how to work it and I thought you'd use it a lot more than I would. You don't have a weapon, anyways."

Leo's face morphed into awe. "You mean…" Eagerly, his hand dove into a yellow flap. He game back up with a hammer that looked quite heavy, though Leo seemed to have no trouble with it, besides a bit of a stumble. "This is so cool!" We swung it around, laughing as he did so. Percy backed up cautiously. He didn't want to take a hammer to the face, thanks.

"This is awesome! Thanks Perce!" Leo jumped up and down slightly, and now he was pulling all sorts of things from inside the yellow band. Percy wondered if he had done a bad thing, Leo would surely be attached to it now, but, _oh well?_

"What is it you're working on?" Percy asked suddenly, spotting a looming figure in the back of the room. How'd he miss it? Oh, right. Dragons.

Leo stopped, still smiling widely. More widely than usual, anyways. "Work on what?"

"The thing that you've been losing sleep over. What is it?"

Percy thought Leo would have illuminated this whole bunker in darkness if he was on fire, with how bright his face was glowing. "Oh! It's a battle ship. I haven't quite decided what to name it yet, but it's going to be awesome, just wait."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Battleship?"

"Yup!" Leo said, popping the 'P'. "It's gonna have guns and fire and it should fly and sail and it's gonna have a Wii-remote control panel, and a cool dining area, and it'll be awesome!" With the way he was talking excitedly, and moving about, Leo had never reminded Percy of a little kid more. It was almost adorable, if it wasn't slightly annoying.

"Sounds interesting. Good luck, but make sure you sleep, okay?"

"Sleep? Now that I got this baby to help me out? No way!" Laughing, Percy shook his head and walked out. He vaguely felt Nightshade join him a after the stone door had closed. _It would be smart to get Leo onto my side, with the battleship...or to at least have him snugly under my thumb. I can't tell anyone, not even Jason, sadly. Who knows whose loyalties would shift? I can hardly trust the Gods._ Percy sighed, blew some hair out of his face, and walked back to camp.

Percy wandered the camp at night. It was well past Harpie-time, and so Percy was free to walk as he wished. He started out in the training area, contemplating how to best kill things, but ended in front of the Zeus cabin. Not that it surprised him, really. Percy sat under a back window, and closed his eyes. Something just kept drawing him to Jason, but who was he to complain? He didn't mind it. Not really. Jason was useful, and capable. Not to mention easy on the eyes. I mean, c'mon. Every knew chicks digged scars.

Percy stretched his subconscious. He wasn't sure how long he spent wondering around Jason's dreams, manipulating the scenes to convey what he wanted. He was pretty sure he even figured out how to make sure Jason remembered the dreams, and had a lot of fun eating ice cream with the boy. Shame he couldn't taste it, but it was thought that counted, wasn't it?

But then, he felt a tugging sensation on his subconscious. It was unpleasant, but Percy ignored it. When it bordered on painful, only then did he leave, huffing as he left Jason all alone on a beach. Blackness consumed him, until he came to a brightly lit room.

It was much like the scene he had just left. He was on a beach. Light blue waves crashed against the shore several feet away. It was sunny, and Percy was relaxing shirtless in a beach chair, sunglasses resting on his nose. He squinted against the sun.

"You're being stupid." A voice spoke suddenly. Percy sighed. He had almost forgotten.

"How's that, Luke?" Turning his head, he narrowed his eyes at the person next to him. Luke also sat in a beach chair, arms behind his head, eyes closed. Percy felt vaguely jealous of the six pack he was rocking, then snorted. Luke was dead. He was trying to compete with a dead guy. He was pathetic at times, really. Besides, he liked Jason's six pack better.

"You're forgetting our mission. You're spending more time than necessary on trivial things."

"Excuse me, but have you forgotten how much I've done? I don't see you doing anything." Percy huffed.

"I'm dead, genius. And you didn't have to give Leo the belt. You don't have to manipulate Jason, or his dreams. You didn't have to kill Rachel. What ever happened to searching the attic in the big house? Forget about that, too?" Luke glared at him. Percy looked down.

"I'm sorry, okay? And what if she recited another stupid prophecy? I had to get rid of her."

"It's a little late for that now, isn't it?" Luke snarled. Percy flinched.

"Did you just bring me here to criticize me, or can I return to what I was doing?" Percy bit out, turning red from more than just the sun beating down on his back.

"You need to hurry. That stupid prophecy-" Luke glared at Percy, then slumped back down into his relaxed position. "-Put a time limit on our plans, so now it's either hurry the fuck up, or say goodbye to world-domination and hello to self-damnation."

"You've been thinking of the line for a while, haven't you?"

"Shut up, Jackson."

Oh Luke, you silly bun-bun you.  
And so many Leo puns. I was so proud.  
NO OFFENSE TO ANY RED HEADS. PROMISE. I'M TECHNICALLY A RED HEAD TOO. (dyed hair)


	12. Chapter XII

This story is fucking longggggggggggggg

 **Chapter XII**  
 **Fuck Riptide. I Got Something Better for You**

Percy sat up in bed slowly, rubbing his face. Jesus, Luke was a dick sometimes. Rolling his eyes, and shaking his head to piss Luke off, Percy grumbled slightly as he got dressed. When he exited his cabin, it was in disarray.

The camp itself was fine, but the campers were causing havoc. He jogged to the dining area, only to see several of the Aphrodite kids huddled together, one or two bawling their eyes out, the rest looking on the verge of tears or just solemn.

He stopped Will, who was passing him. "What happened?" Percy asked, eyes flickering to the Aphrodite cabin. Will sighed, running a hand over his face.

"Aphrodite was killed last night; we aren't sure how, but she's dead, and...well, you can imagine." Will sent a sympathetic look towards the Aphrodite cabin. "Their cabin is destroyed now, as well; apparently Drew woke up, and the ceiling was caved in around her, with blood splatterd on the walls, but everyone seemingly unharmed."

Percy took a big breath. "But no campers were hurt?"

"Everyone is accounted for. But it's not just the physical damage I'm worried for. It's the mental state of the campers that concerns me. Especially for the younger ones. There hasn't been an incident in a while, but now it's like there's a looming shadow over our backs, and everyone is just thinking…'who's next?'" Will ran a hand through his hair. "I'm going to go to the medic, make sure we have supplies. I'm not much in the mood for breakfast."

Will walked away from him, leaving Percy standing there, looking at the milling, anxious campers surrounding him, the only sounds the murmured whispers of people and the crying of Aphrodite kids. Percy could see it now, in their stances, their eyes, the way everyone was shuffling. He could practically see the thought banging around their head.

 _Is my cabin next?_

Percy walked away, to the beach to hide his smile. _Go Hephhy!_ Hardly able to contain his cackle, he sat on the peer next to his cabin, letting his feet dangle in the water. Suddenly, a lurch pulled at his foot. Percy would have fallen in if he hadn't been holding onto the pole. He clutched it tightly, yanking his feet out of the water. He looked for creatures; maybe the nymphs were mad because he murdered one of them?

But there was nothing. Percy rubbed his foot, feeling the lingering, tingling sensation. _Poseidon had tried to get him._

Oh no. This wasn't good at all. Percy darted away from the peer, into his cabin. If Poseidon was onto him, what did that mean? Did Hephhy spill? But...then why had he killed Aphrodite? To lull Percy into a false sense of security? That didn't make sense!

Percy paced back and forth within his cabin. What could he do? Could he risk to go back to Hephhy? He obviously couldn't go into the water now, but what if Poseidon decided to just show up at camp?

Groaning in frustration, Percy kicked a wall. It crumbled underneath his foot. He blinked in surprised, and tugged his foot out. Drywall sprinkled from the gap. Since when…?

Percy shook his head, and sat down on his bed. This was a mess.

He was sure the fountain in the corner was about to explode when a knock sounded on his door. It took Percy a moment to collect himself, but eventually he thought he had some semblance of a controlled posture. Without bothering to check, he answered the door.

"Nico!" Percy blinked in surprise. "I haven't seen you in awhile, what're you doing here?" The short boy still only came up to about his chin, making Percy's lips twitch. He hadn't changed.

"Camp Jupiter. Venus cabin is a mess, I thought I'd check on Aphrodite, and see how you guys were handling it down here, what with C-Chiron, and all." Nico cleared his throat.

Percy set his eyes downcast. "Yeah. We're managing. We're just hoping everything will blow over eventually, even though that doesn't seem to be happening." Percy twitched, rubbing his shoulder. "Leo's working crazy on this huge battleship, but I'm hoping we won't have to use it. Fewer lives lost, the better."

He wasn't looking at the boy, but he heard the hum and could sense the vague nod of agreement. "Alright."

"Are you planning to stick around?" Percy asked, calling out as Nico started to walk away.

Turning his head, Nico rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I donno. Jason want's me to stay and help, and I guess you guys need me more than Camp Jupiter. So I suppose." Percy smiled slightly.

"Good." _Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck._

"I'll see you around, Perce." _Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck._

"Yeah, Neeks. See you!" _Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck._

"Don't call me Neeks." _Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck._

"Yeah, yeah, get on with yourself!" _Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck._

Percy closed the door to his cabin as Nico walked away. _Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.  
_

 _Damnit._

Things became harder with Nico around; one more person he had to watch out for, had to avoid, had to make sure didn't suspect anything. At least Nico seemed to be just as annoyed with Bust-Boy as Percy. For almost a week, he danced around the boy, frightened Nico would be able to sense something, sense the sinister within him.

And then his cabin was illuminated in the middle of the night by a bright, blinding flash. Percy sat up, started, almost hitting his head on the bunk above him. He reached blindly for riptide, fearing Poseidon had come to assassinate him in his sleep, but then he realized it was Hephhy, standing in his cabin with a goofy, proud smile on his face.

Percy became slightly less tense.

"Perseus! Good to see you!" The God greeted joyously, making Percy wince at his loud voice.

"Hephaestus. May I inquire as to what I owe the pleasure?"

"You hate talking that way, don't do it. It doesn't fit." _True_. "Anyway, as I'm sure you're aware, Aphrodite is dead. My specialty, of course. Now, you mentioned you wanted a weapon capable of slaying the Gods and Goddesses?"

"Yes. I was hoping you would be able to use my own sword to do so."

"That isn't happening. That sword is already enchanted by some powerful stuff, to add anything else may cause it to collapse within itself. If it was a new enchantment, maybe, but as it is old, and has cemented its presence into the metal, there is little I can do." Percy deflated.

"But, I was able to fashion you a weapon that would work to your needs. It has a similar enchantment to your sword, since I was able to put them together, since they were both new. Of course, I had to give it some time to settle, so it didn't explode when you used it, but now it should be in working order." Hephaestus smiled a devious little smile.

Percy stepped closer, excitement creeping into his frame. From his pocket, Hephhy pulled out a thin necklace. The chain was barely visible, and when in his hand, Percy realized it weighs hardly anything. A pendant of pure black rested in the middle, swirls of a bright, orangey-red designing it. When he adorned it, Percy noticed it fitted snuggling under his shirt, the long chain shrinking to accommodate him as he so wished.

Percy glanced up at Hephhy. "Pull the pendant." Hephhy watched excitedly, and Percy realized this was as thrilling for him as it was for Percy.

Percy tugged on it, and it came loose in the palm of his hand. Immediately, it grew, stretching, morphing and transforming until it ended as a long, deadly sharp scythe. Percy looked at it in awe. It was a perfect weight in his hand, balanced as well as riptide, gliding smoothly through the air.

"It's perfect." Percy whispered. Hephhy beamed.

"Perfect. That should only come loose when you so wish, and if the chain ever breaks -which I doubt it ever will, it's stronger than the rope that binds Fenris Wolf- or if it ever comes off, it will return to you almost instantaneously."

Percy wanted to question who Fenris Wolf was, but brushed it off. "It's amazing. What do you call it?"

"It's engraved on the handle. _Nteméntor_." Percy cocked an eyebrow.

"Doesn't that translate to _dementor_?"

"Roughly, perhaps."

"Harry Potter nerd much?"

"I could take away the all-mighty weapon I just crafted especially for you."

"No, that's fine. It fits."

"Funny. I thought so too. Who are you planning to use it on first?" Hephhy asked once more, growing excited again.

Percy smirked. "Poseidon. He seems to be on to me. He attempted to snatch me from the water several days ago." Hephhy cackled in the background.

"I love it. That's a perfect christening."

"I believe so too. Oh, would you happen to find any use for the electric spear of a deceased God of War? I no longer have any need for it." Percy inquired, twirling around the blade, smiling.

Hephhy cracked a smile. "I'm sure I could use it for something."

* * *

Percy walked idly across the shoreline of the beach. It was the dead of night; any other time to do this would be stupid. It was already a terrible risk to be doing this within Camp Half-Blood (he would have considered going somewhere furthest out of reach, but he figured this would attract his father's attention the quickest, and he wanted this job done.

He dipped a toe into the water. Immediately, the water reached out, and wrapped around his ankle. Percy flailed. Great, he was going to die by drowning. Would would have thought? He struggled and kicked, fighting against the water tentacles restraining his limbs.

Poseidon appeared in front of him. The tall figurehead of his Godly parent towered above him, menacing and deadly in appearance as his hair floated in the violent currents.

"You have changed, Perseus. Something dark has grown inside you. I can sense it." Poseidon spoke to him somehow. His lips weren't moving, but Percy could feel his booming voice in his head. Percy winced at the intensity. "And I intend to put a stop to it." Poseidon finished. A trident appeared in his father's hand. Suddenly, the water tentacles dropped him, and Percy realized it was because his father wanted him to try and fight back. To try and challenge him.

Percy immediately manipulated the water so he would have some sort of advantage. He whipped around Poseidon's head, pulling out Nteméntor at the last second.

The curved blade of the scythe cut Poseidon's neck, spilling ichor into the water.

For a split second, Percy feared it wouldn't work. As Poseidon continued to look furious, and unworried, and as he reached out to crush Percy-but then his eyes widened, and he crumbled.

Percy floated there for a second, unsure of what to do. He twirled Nteméntor, which returned to its pendant-state, and slowly hovered out of the water. He dried himself immediately, and let the feeling of triumph overtake him.

Until he realized that his cabin was now ruined.

"Damnit."

Percy dared a trek back to his cabin, groaning once it came into sight.

Yup. Ruined.

 _Damnit_.

Percy huffed, blowing a lock of hair out of his face. It could have been worse, yes. Really, it was just like some really authentic Halloween decorations had been placed around his cabin. A deep gash was cut along the top and front of the cabin, a clean cut that almost went all the way through the wood, and sliced through completely in some places.

Percy walked up to the gash, running his fingers across it. His hand came back wet. Water. That was...nice? Shaking his head, Percy walked away from it. It was an annoyance. He'd like a place to sleep, afterall.

Where was he supposed to go now? He had to come up with a story, as well. And he wanted to get out of the open air soon. Bust-Boy might be around, though usually he wasn't near enough the cabins to see much.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Percy let out a slow breath. A moment later, he almost smacked himself. He'd just bunk with Jason for the night. They'd let everyone know in the morning. They couldn't do much about it now, anyways.

Well, that wasn't true. They could get an IM going, and contact the gods, or let Bust-Boy to go let them know, but Percy was hoping Jason's sleep-riddled mind would overlook that.

Percy made it over to Cabin One, which wasn't very far from Percy's own cabin. Much bigger though, much to Percy's amusement. And then there was Hera's right next to it, just as big, which was empty.

It was humorous.

Percy knocked quietly on the cabin door. Then again, louder, realizing belatedly that Jason was probably asleep. They were slightly far from the other cabins anyway. The noise wouldn't travel too far. Percy knocked again after there was no answer.

Eventually, he heard some shuffling. Then he realized, oh yeah, he needed to look _disappointed and panicked because his cabin was ruined, meaning his father was dead.  
_

He almost didn't get himself set in time. But then the door swung open, and he was able to face Jason with the appropriate emotions adorning his face. Such a handsome face, if he did say so himself.

"Percy? Why in all of Pluto are you here in the middle of the night?" Jason spoke, voice raspy and scratchy from sleep. Percy shuddered. Damn hormones. That wasn't appropriate for a world-ruler.

"My cabin is ruined."

Since his head was ducked, because Percy was an amazing actor and knew this was how to act, he did not see Jason's reaction, but could hear the intake of breath.

"Oh, Percy...c'mon, we'll deal with it tomorrow." Jason beckoned him inside the cabin, speechless. What was he supposed to say? Jason shuddered as Percy passed him. If this...thing, that was killing everyone else, got to one of the big boys...no one was safe. Poseidon was dead. That meant anyone could be next. Hades. Zeus. Who knew anymore?

"There isn't another bed." Percy murmured, pulling Jason out of his fuzzy thoughts. Jason blushed. He hadn't realized, he was still in shock.

"Oh, uhm-"

"I'll sleep on the floor, it's fine. I'd rather sleep here on the floor than in my cabin on a bed…" Percy gave a small, watery chuckle.

"No, wait-"

"It's fine, Jason." Percy sat against one wall, knees pulled close to him. He stared at the ceiling. "Funny. I realized that Aphrodite, Ares, Athena, all them were killed...but I didn't think my dad would go, you know? Being one of the big three...it's almost like I thought he was invincible." Percy sighed, putting his head in his hands.

Jason sat next to Percy, shoulders touching. For an awkward moment, Jason floundered like a fish, before he put his arm around Percy's shoulders in comfort. Sighing in exhaustion, Percy leaned against Jason tiredly. Again, Jason was at a loss, but eventually awkwardly laid his head on top of Percy's, which was on his shoulder.

They fell asleep like that, Percy will an evil smile on his face, and Jason feeling awkward but helpful.

* * *

Percy woke up with a creek in his neck and some Zeus-drool in his hair, but it was worth it. He stretched, waking up Jason in the process. He watched Jason's face out of the corner of his eye, watching it transition from confusion to grim realization.

Jason rubbed his face. "We need to have a camp meeting."

Percy nodded, looking down at his hands. "Hey, I'm sorry man. We'll figure it out."

"Yeah...hey, what did the other kids do? Ares, Athena, Aphrodite? Aren't they still in their cabins?" Percy asked, realizing that he honestly had no idea. He hadn't been paying attention.

Jason raised an eyebrow. "Athena is still in their cabin, but Aphrodite is in the Artemis cabin, and Ares went to Hera. Those were the only ones that didn't have anyone in them."

"I'm sure the gods and campers were happy about that."

"Yeah. Don't get me started."

"Well...let's get that town meeting set up, I guess."

"Let's." Face grim, Jason rose.

Half an hour later, the camp was gathered in the arena. Jason, Percy, Nico, and Leo stood on the bleachers, with Bust-Boy off to the side, campers spread out in front of them. Percy did his best to look solemn, and he thought he nailed it, but he wasn't sure.

"I'm sure you're all aware of what happened last night." Jason started. "Last night, the Neptune- I mean, Poseidon cabin was ruined. You all know what this means." Jason took a breath. "We've done what we can so far. Which isn't much. So, we need to do something else. Obviously, we can't do much. But, I was thinking...we should send Terminus, to see if he can get Artemis to send her hunters to camp. If nothing else, we might be able to help them find something to kill whatever is killing the God-"

"It's Jackson! There's no question! We already know it is!" Drew shouted from the back, rage filling her eyes. "He goes batshit crazy, vanishes for over a year, and thens come back, and all the Gods are dying! It's obvious! Everyone thinks so! If we just kill him, none of this would be happening!" She screamed. She fought her way to the front of the crowd, but several campers held her back. "Just do it! We all know it's him!" Tears started to stream down her face. Everyone stared at her in shock, or uneasiness, shifting unsteadily.

Percy decided that killing her was not the best thing to do at the moment, and instead stared at her in watery shock.

"Drew! You know that isn't true!" Jason shouted back at her, recovering from his shock. "Why would Percy kill his own father? You've known him longer than I have, and even I know from interacting with him that Percy would never betray the camp! After all the times he's saved everyone, saved the world, you think he's going to ruin it all?"

"He's insane! He'll kill us all!"

"Come along darling, I think you need to calm down." Terminus broke in, restraining Drew. He lead her away. "Some siblings, please follow me. I'll be leaving once I can to contact the hunters." He called over his shoulder, marching a struggling and screaming Drew away.

"How…" Percy murmured, hardly loud enough to be heard.

"Percy, don't listen to her, okay? She's upset because of Aphrodite." Nico said quietly. Percy looked at him, offering him a shaky smile.

"Thanks, Neeks."

Nico didn't bother to correct him.

The meeting ended, and half an hour later, Terminus left. Campers took shifts watching the boundary, conscious that it was vulnerable now. Percy did his duties about camp, but he could feel the shift. He could sense the lingering uneasiness in the air. The fear of the campers was tangible. It made Percy restless. He so did not need this.

 _Damnit, Drew!_ Yes, the seed had already been planted, but Drew had watered it and given it steroids. Now he ha to deal with the consequences. He didn't much care what happened to her now. He knew he couldn't kill her, that would be too suspicious.

Stupid Aphrodite children. Percy walked into the big house. No one ever went in there anymore. Half of it was ruined, caved in on itself. The other half was fine, but still, no one wanted to venture within anymore.

He climbed the steps into the attic. There had to be something in there, wouldn't there?

The trap door creaked on its hinges as he flung it open. Dust swirled like a wind devil, causing Percy to practically hack up a lung. Nothing had changed. The only difference from his last visit was that the corpse of a statue was no longer up here.

Determination shaky, Percy resolved to ruffle through the many boxes until he found something worth saving.

Almost immediately, he found something that made him freeze. It was sitting neatly on top of one of the boxes, with only a little dust on it.

 _Annabeth's hat._

Cheering quietly, Percy grabbed it, shoving it on his head. Instantly, he vanished. Percy cackled. This was amazing. It was disorienting to not be able to see his own body parts, but _so_ worth it.

Still cackling over his find, he continued to look through boxes, motivated by his early luck.

An hour passed. Two. Eventually, he got tired after not finding thing of significance. He was pretty sure he was scarred for life, with some of the weird shit he had found. He was yawning when his hand knocked something over.

A small glass vial rolled across the floor, almost falling out of the attic, but Percy lunged and managed to stop it mid-roll. He examined it carefully. There was a very worn label, hardly legible.

 _Persuasion dust._

Percy stop breathing for a second. The bottle was about as big as his pointer finger, filled with a silver dust that seemingly moved on it own. Staring at it in shock, Percy sat back.

The _possibilities_.

Laying down, Percy laughed to himself.


	13. Chapter XIII

_**Chapter XIII  
**_ _ **Ah, Old Friends! Good to See You, Good to See You...Now, About That Whole...Thing...**_

"Percy! Leo!" Jason called out, jogging up to them. Their heads snapped to him, breaking off their conversation about what Terminus was doing. He was slightly out of breath, having run from a distance. "Thalia just IM'd me, she said she'd be heading over soon with the Hunters, they thought that they might be able to help track down who's killing the Gods if we can give them more information." Jason said.

"What information? What do we have that they can use?" Leo snorted.

"I..I'm not sure. But maybe they'll be able to look at the cabins or something, maybe recognize a signature, I'm not sure...but we have to do something, don't we? We can't just let the Gods die…" Jason said, tone solemn and face hard. Percy bit his lip.

"Really, Jason, what can we tell them? 'Yeah, some of the cabins have been ruined more than others, and that's all we really know'. Doesn't seem like much." _Pleaaaassseee don't let the Hunters come, I don't need more noses up my ass!_ Mentally, Percy was groaning, sighing and bemoaning his hardships.

"I don't know about you, but I don't know how the Hunters do their whole...tracking thing. Who knows what will help them? All we can do is hope they'll be able to use something." Jason shrugged, unable to do anything else. Percy sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Have you told Nico?" Leo asked.

"He's training some younger campers. I'll let him know once he's done."

"When are they supposed to get here?"

"Sometime tomorrow."

"Alright." With that, Percy walked away. He didn't have a particular destination in mind, but after a minute he figured he'd go back to what was now 'his' cabin. Jason had agreed to share his cabin for the time being, and had helped Percy bring his bed from his cabin, which wasn't too ruined. Once inside the Zeus cabin, he flopped down onto his bed, staring at the statue of Zeus in the middle of the room.

"You'll be dead soon…" Percy murmured to himself. "Stupid fucking hunters." Growling, Percy covered his eyes with his hands. "I'm being dramatic." Percy deflated. "They can't do much, really." He murmured to himself. "They'll stick their noses into the camp, but after that...they'll go away, chasing a dead trail...they can't stay, their cabin isn't open." Percy turned onto his stomach. "Stupid fucking hunters." Mumbling into his pillow, Percy stuck his hands underneath it. His finger his a cold, round object.

Confused, Percy pulled it out. A wicked smile graced his lips as he sat up, fingering the object which reflected purple in the sunlight streaming in through the windows.

His trusty dildo!

Nah. It was the bottle of persuasion dust. _Of course!_ Why hadn't he thought of it before? Percy winced at his own self-misery that he had been experiencing just moments before. _That was pathetic. Let's not do that again..._ Now in a better mood, Percy put the vial in his pocket and went for a shower. He needed to plan this out a bit. He would also need another vial…

 _Leo can probably pull one out of that tool belt...but what am I going to tell him if he asks what it's for?_ Percy shook his head. The water would help him think. Murmuring lightly to himself, Percy stepped into his shower.

* * *

Night had fallen over Camp Half-Blood like a blanket. In the dead silence, the door to the Zeus cabin creaked horribly loud, at least, it did to Percy. Wincing, he quickly exited the cabin, blowing out a breath once the door was closed. As he walked the distance to the Hephaestus cabin, Percy stopped and smacked himself. He used his cool shadow-travel-tool-thing (he wasn't sure what to call it yet) for the rest of the distance.

Once at the door, he once again shifted himself inside. No more traitorous, squeaky doors for him. Though he doubted Hephhy's cabin would have a squeaky door. Considering, you know...Percy sighed. He was such a nerd. A diabolical, handsome nerd, but still _such_ a nerd.

Once inside, Percy looked around himself, searching for the bed that housed Leo. He had to walk several feet further into the cabin, bunk-beds crowding him and making him feel more trapped the father in he went. Even if Hephhy was his buddy, didn't mean his kids were.

Finally, Percy found Leo; one of his arms were hanging off the side of the bed, face smushed into the pillow and drool slipping out of the corner of his mouth.

 _So beautiful…_

Now that he had found Leo, the belt would be somewhere close-by, wouldn't it? With that thought in mind, Percy searched diligently (as he could whilst struggling to stay silent) as he could, only to come up with nothing. Huffing in frustration, Percy looked back at Leo. Then, his heart dropped. _Leo is wearing the fucking belt..._ Percy feebly realized that he really didn't want to try and get a vial out of a belt, whilst it rested on a small Latino man, who was sleeping on a top bunk. Groaning, Percy ran his hands through his hair.

He would just have to look around the cabin. That's all he could do. He would find the workshop, and hope for the best. Rolling his eyes in satirical frustration, Percy walked (some would say stomped) to where he new the door to the workshop section of the cabin was. He risked the door this time, not surprised when no noise sounded. He walked through effortlessly, at this point just tired and wanting to go to bed. The room was an odd combination of messy and clean.

It was messy...but a _tasteful_ messy, he guessed. Benches and workstations were lined up neatly, but random things littered the ground and desks and chairs. Toolboxes were in rows, sorted alphabetically, but draws were opened, some with tools on the ground near them or just sticking out slightly.

Percy couldn't say he was honestly surprised. With a sigh, he ruffled through various things, wincing whenever the metallic tools clinged together, constantly fighting his sense of self-preservation. When the tool boxes came up empty, he started to sift through the stations, which had little pieces of paper on the top, labelling whose was whose. Around the third stop, when he was becoming slightly careless of his movements, Percy froze upon hearing the sound of glass contacting with something. He looked around himself cautiously, finally spotting the precariously small vial of _something_ at his feet. He didn't know what it was, but at the moment, he didn't care.

He opened the vial of green stuff, prepared to dump it out, when a sudden noise made him jump.

"What're you doing with that? Do you know how dangerous that is?" Percy's head snapped up. In front of him was a girl, not very old, thirteen, twelve? "Dude, just put that down…"

Percy's eyes flickered to the vial he was holding. A light green liquid sloshed around. He was suddenly weary, and snapped the lid closed.

The girl's shoulders dropped in relief. "Thank you. Why are you in here? At this time?"

"I'm sorry, did I wake you? What is this?" Percy inquired, ignoring her question for the moment. Until he could come up with a reasonable excuse, that was.

"That's Greek fire."

When Percy stared blankly at her, she gave him a deadpan face. "Greek fire. The most explosive and deadly weapon we have. You seriously don't know about it? You're running the camp."

Having absolutely no idea what she was talking about, Percy nodded, making his eyes widen in realization. "Oh." He breathed. The girl nodded.

"Yeah. Why're you here? I noticed you hadn't answered." She said, raising an eyebrow impressively. Percy just kinda stared at her. In fact, if he hadn't, he might have missed the little shuffle she did towards the door; hardly noticeable, but there. He lashed out in panic. Suddenly, Nightshade came out, and attacked the girl before even Percy knew what was happening.

The only sound was a body dropping to the floor, and a slight _woosh_ as Percy vanished from the room.

Percy reappeared on the dock of the ocean, breath heavy, panicking. He hadn't meant to killer, he hadn't wanted to! Nightshade had lashed out on her own. Percy dropped to his knees, legs having been shaking. He felt...weak. Like Nightshade had seeped energy from him to do what she wanted.

Percy took a rattling breath. In his mind, he could hear her, whispering to him, encouraging him to get up, to be strong, that he could do this. He didn't even know why he was freaking out so much. He had killed so many already. So many that were so much closer to him; he hadn't even known that girls name.

 _But she was so young..._ Percy despaired, only for his thoughts to be countered by a soothing voice. He sighed, and looked at the vial in his hand. Now he had a vial of greek fire, apparently the most explosive and dangerous weapon available...how was he supposed to use it? Mindlessly destroy a cabin for no reason? There was absolutely no reason to do that; he would just be cutting down his numbers if he were to do that. And he had to do something soon, so he could use the vial itself...Percy growled furiously.

Reckless abandon taking over, Percy jumped into the water. He was so frustrated. The vial of fire was in the pocket of his sweatpants, bumping gently against his leg. Percy wasn't worried. The cap was completely sealed, now that he had looked at a for a moment. He sunk through the water, letting his clothes get soaked as he floated to the bottom, hitting it with a slight movement. He looked up above him, not able to discern the surface of the water; it was too dark. Rolling his eyes, he rolled over, letting his hands wander around the sand, half-heartedly digging through the sand. He was so tired suddenly. Objects scraped against his hands; he didn't bother to identify them. Rocks, metal, glass, coral, whatever.

Suddenly, something slapped the back of his head. He whipped around, glaring daggers at the nymph that had dared to hit him. He grabbed the first thing his hand touched, and flung it at her. With his powers, it traveled much faster through the water than it should have, hitting the nymph squarely in the forehead. She fumbled, flipped him off and swam away. Percy glared daggers at her, contemplating killing her. But then he noticed the object that was floating down softly.

It looked like a metal flask, the type people would carry booze in. Percy grabbed it gently. It had a dent on it's side now, but it looked as though it still opened and closed easily, and sealed shut tightly.

Whooping, Percy shot out of the water, instantly regretting not caring if his clothes got wet. He dumped out the flask, and vanished into his cabin. He set the vial and flask down, hurriedly changing and getting into bed as quietly as he possibly could, so as to not awaken Jason. The flask wasn't quite dry yet, but he fixed that with a quick snap of his fingers, causing the water to evaporate. He grabbed the flask, and the vial of purple dust that was stored under his pillow. He smiled at his fabulous hiding place, and the smile remained on his face as he poured a little more than half of the vial contents into the flask. That would be for Thalia. He would keep the remainder; he was sure there would be a use for it eventually.

* * *

It was during breakfast that the Hunters arrived. By then, the body of Nyssa had been discovered, spooking many of the campers with her sudden death that no one could seem to find the cause of. It cast a somber mood across the camp, only strengthening with her mourning burial and pyre. Percy stood, alongside Jason and Leo, the flask and vial of Greek fire rattling quietly in his jean pockets. Jason ran to his sister, hugging her tightly, as she held him just as close. They smiled at each other, just happy to know the other was safe. Percy didn't catch much of their murmured conversation, only saw a few grim faces as he walked up.

"Hey Thals." Percy waved. Thalia smiled softly, if not a bit tightly at him. _No matter what she may believes about my 'possession' we went through a lot; she trusts me._ Percy realized, giving her his own smile. Percy hadn't expected the hug she pulled him into, casting a confused look at an amused Jason. His eyes flickered over to the rest of the hunters, who were glaring, but unable to do anything. Percy hugged Thalia back finally.

Satisfied, Thalia pulled away, fixing her headpiece-crown-thing that showered her as the lieutenant of the Hunters, second to only Artemis herself. It had become slightly askew.

"Hey Leo, did you finally grow some?" Thalia teased, smiling. Leo snorted. They hadn't known each other for long, only meeting a few times when Jason had been memoryless.

"Still scared of heights?"

"Shut it, midget."

The two laughed, and Percy reluctantly found a smile tugging his lips. "It's good to see you guys again. I wish it could have been under better circumstances. Oh, hey Percy, can I talk to you for a minute? I..wanted to ask about Annabeth." Gulping, Thalia hardly got the last part out, struggling through clenched teeth. Percy gave her pity, and nodded. She pulled him away, and Percy mentally noted that this is exactly what he needed to have happened! Of course, rely on Thalia to give him the perfect chance to manipulate her. Obviously she would want to ask about Annabeth, she had become a tree for the girl, after all.

The two walked away from where the rest of the camp was, climbing a hill not too far away, but out of sight. _Perfect. Thank you Thals. You've made this so much easier for me._

After a moment of silence, Thalia took a deep breath. "How did she die?"

"Fighting."

Thalia gave out a shaky laugh. "Of course she did. She would have made a brilliant hunter." Thalia whispered, closing her eyes and cupping her face in her hands. _This is my chance!_ Hurriedly, Percy grabbed the flask from his pocket. Thalia looked up at the sound of him unscrewing it. She snorted. "Alcohol, Percy? How did you even get that in here? More importantly, give me some." Thalia murmured. Percy cracked a smile.

Then, he made a jerky motion. The dust floated out, onto to Thalia, who flinched, and coughed violently as she ingested it. Percy watched with trepidation, ready to kill her the moment he decided to needed to. He really, _really_ hoped the dust would work. Now that he thought about it, what was he going to do if it didn't? Ansty, Percy bit his lip.

Thalia straightened. Her eyes were blank, glossy. Percy let out a tiny _whoop_ , jumping up and down slightly. "Uh, Thalia?" He tested. She nodded at him. Smiling, Percy giggled. Then he coughed. He needed to get a hold of himself. He would give himself away one of these days, he knew it. Percy coughed once more to steady his voice.

* * *

To be honest this story is really hard to write. But eh. I'm working through it...just keeping on trucking...*Sigh*


	14. Chapter XVI

**_Chapter XIV  
_** **You, Sir, Need to Watch Your Langauge. Now, Please Excuse Me, I Am in Need of Cuddles**

Jason and Leo were talking quietly, shooting glances at the hunters, who were huddled in a circle, glaring at any male who even breathed within a five foot radius of them. Jason personally thought that was a bit much, but whatever. They weren't his troupe. He was shooting Conner and Travis warning looks (he just knew they would try to cause some shit) when Thalia and Percy returned, both with solemn looks adorning their faces.

"Everything alright?" Jason asked, arching an eyebrow at his sister.

"Yeah, Fine. I just needed to ask Percy about some old friends of ours." Thalia gave him a smile, ruffling Percy's hair, which he batted away with a huff.

"I am older than you now, you kno-" Percy said.

"Nope. I'll always be older." Thalia smirked. Percy rolled his eyes and Jason cracked a smile. But then Thalia's smile dropped and she turned to face her brother. "I wish I could have seen you again under different circumstances, but either way, we need to discuss what's been going on around here." Thalia spoke, every bit lieutenant she was. Jason returned her look.

"Agreed. Should we go back to our cabin? I don't feel like we should talk about this in the middle of the camp."

"You're right, but I don't think my hunters would be okay with that. I know a place, c'mon." Thalia made a gesture, and soon her, the hunters, Jason, Percy, and Leo were heading to the hill Percy and Thalia had just been. Percy could still see a tiny sparkle of residue purple dust, and quickly sat on the area it covered in panic, prompting everyone else to sit down as well. Percy knew, that if it hadn't been crushed, they would have gone to the Big House instead, where all important meetings were held, but this was the best they could do at the moment, he admitted.

"Right. What've you guys been experiencing on your end? I've heard that something has been happening when the Gods or Goddesses die, but I haven't heard any details." The boys shared a glance. Percy noticed a hunter (Phoebe?) scooting further away from Leo, who scooted closer to her to annoy her, a small smirk on his face as she glared at him.

Jason heaved a sigh. "Nothing good. We're running low on cabin space. We can only assume that the way a god dies is imitated in their cabin, for some reason. The Ares and Aphrodite cabins are completely destroyed, but Athena is fine for the most part, though I've heard several campers have gotten panic attacks from it. Percy's cabin is rather damaged too, so he's been bunking with me." Jason ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "It isn't good, but we're building as quickly as we can."

Thalia rested her chin on her hand. "Well shit." Leo nodded. "Anything else? Anything that could possibly give us any information on who has been doing this, or their whereabouts?" Jason shook his head, but everyone noticed many eyes flickering to Percy. Percy glared at them.

"I'm not doing it, alright? I'm sick and tired of everyone thinking I am! I'll admit, I was the one who hurt Thalia and Ares, but here's what everyone doesn't seem to understand. I. Was. Possessed. I've been here ever since I got free, not that I know how that happened, and I haven't done jackshit to hurt anyone sense! You think I would kill my own father?" Percy stood, ranting and waving his arms about. Finally, he crossed his arms and shook his head. "You disgust me. I'll be in the stables if you need me." Percy huffed, stomping off as everyone watched him go.

He jogged to the stables, opening the door slowly. He hadn't been here in ages. He was quite impressed with himself at the moment, actually, and so he walked in with a small smile on his face. Immediately, the voices of all the horses around him erupted in cheers and neighs, many of the creatures mankind excited head motions. Percy walked to the back of the stable, chattering voices filling his head, but one standing out amongst the rest.

 _Boss!_ Percy couldn't help the smile stretching across his face as he pet the midnight black horse.

"Hello Blackjack. Good to see you buddy."

 _Boss! Where've you been? Do you have any doughnuts? Why do you smell different? Doughnuts?_ Percy frowned. He smelled different?

"No, I don't have any doughnuts, sorry buddy." Percy gently patted the horses muzzle as he bumped his hand. "Blackjack! Language!"

 _Sorry Boss._ "And don't call me Boss, you insolent creature." Percy laughed.

 _Can we get doughnuts?_ Percy snorted, but a small smile creeped up his face. "Soon, buddy. Just have to wait a little while longer. And then we're going to go on a long flight, and we can stop for doughnuts along the way, as many times as you want." As Blackjack cheered whilst simultaneously complaining about having to wait. Percy just laughed softly, stroking Blackjack's mane. He didn't leave for awhile, and by the time he did resurface out of the stables (he was becoming nauseous off of the fumes) he could hear the campers bustling about to get to lunch. He dragged his feet only slightly as he walked over to his table. For appearances. Duh.

He didn't encounter Jason until well after he had gotten into bed. He had the slight feeling that the man had been avoiding him, but shook off the feeling as the man walked in, stuffing the small vial back under his pillow. He had been playing with the persuasion dust, studying it as it sloshed around. Jason immediate walked to his bed, getting ready to sleep.

"I'm sorry about the hunters earlier. That was uncalled for. But they're gone now, they left before lunch." Jason murmured.

"It's fine. I'm just sick of it. I can feel everyone looking at me. I can hear the whispers. It's just...so annoying, and...it hurts. These are my friends. And yet...no one trusts me. Grover is dead for Gods sake! And they think I did that! He's been my best friend for almost a decade…" Percy rubbed his face. He felt a twinge in his heart as he mentioned Grover, the bond reacting, pulling real tears into his eyes that weren't good at all. Useful, at the moment, but they were a point of weakness that wasn't acceptable. He could feel Nightshade inside him, could feel her scolding him for the genuine weakness. He shushed her.

Percy felt a hand on his shoulder, but didn't move to look at Jason. "I'm sorry. I know you aren't doing it, and Leo and Nico know that too. You have us. Remember that."

"Thanks." Percy sniffed. Jason floundered. He wasn't good with these situations. Awkwardly, he sat down next to Percy and pulled him into a half hug, tensing when Percy leaned into him. Percy tucked his head into his chest, a hand coming up to grip his shirt. It took Jason many moments to relax and when he finally did, he realized Percy's breathing had evened out. Cursing, Jason sighed, and gently leaned the two of them backwards. He knew Percy hadn't gotten a proper night's rest in many nights, each dream riddled with nightmares. Jason knew this because he had woken up several times to Percy thrashing around and whimpering. He didn't want to risk waking the man, which would be more than likely if he were to move, so he shuffled the blanket over them and tried to get comfy without moving very much.

He fell asleep quickly.

* * *

Thalia laid in her tent, drumming a light pattern on her pillow as she waited. She rested in her night clothes, something simple but unrestricting if she had to defend an attack during the night hours. Thalia had always hated the things, they weren't her sort of style at all, but really, all fashion had moved over for efficiency and utility when she had taken a position within the hunters. Artemis had always punished Hunters who disobeyed anyways, and as lieutenant she had no room to make mistakes in any way.

Well, tonight, Artemis would complain no more.

Thalia stood, jumping lightly to her feet. She grabbed the container holding the dust she had been given, orders ringing throughout her mind clear as day. _Wait, be patient, be careful._ She had a smile on her face as she crept out of her tent, the flap closing silently behind her. She crouched, letting the darkness shroud her completely in the shadows. Her eyes flickered around her, searching for patrol wolves that Artemis supplied, so that none of them would have to be in a weakened, sleep-deprived state throughout a battle. The silver white wolves walked slowly in circles around the tents, rows of fabric and sleeping females separating them from seeing each other. Thalia had decided that if she wanted to do this correctly, she would need to detain these two, if not any others. In terms of the pack, these two were underlings, mere guards. Warning signals. They would be most likely to disobey and run, and she needed numbers if she wanted to accomplish her goal. Along with the personal wolf each Hunter was granted, there were others, all of those sleeping in nests just outside of the tents, there was the pack leader, Thalia's wolf, who only obeyed her. Her wolf slept outside of her tent, away from the others. She needn't worry about her wolf.

As for the rest, considering what she had planned, she hoped she would be fine without having to waste dust on them, since they were _supposed_ to be loyal to the Hunters and herself. She had to be conservative with it the dust, there were an abundance of Hunters she needed to use it on, and she didn't necessarily know how much potency a small amount had.

Thalia halted for a moment, before she straightened her back and walked with confident steps towards the wolf in the back. It would do no good for her to act suspiciously. She was the leader. She was the alpha. These wolves _would_ recognize her, her status, and if they didn't they weren't worthy to be a part of her pack.

As she approached the wolf, it halted, nose pointed towards her. After a moment of obvious reluctance, the wolf sat on its hind legs, bowing its head as a sign of respect. Thalia lifted her chin. She gently rest her head between the dog's ears, petting it softly. She nelt. Its tail twitched, making Thalia smile. She grabbed the dust from her pocket, sprinkling a small amount atop the wolf's muzzle. Its nose twitched, and he sneezed, but soon he was licking her cheek happily, tail wagging with much less reserve. Thalia giggled very slightly, before giving the dog another pat and moving on. She straightened and went to the other wolf.

Before she had fully appeared from the shadows, the wolf whipped around to face her. This one sat on it's hind legs, but did not fully bow it's head. The sign of a proud dog, which didn't necessarily bode well for Thalia. She approached it, slowing her steps when a faint growling met her ears. As the distance between her and the dog diminished, she could see the hairs on it's neck rising, it's body tensing as he hunched over. Thalia halted. This wasn't worth the risk. She didn't think this dog would willingly let her touch it, let alone sprinkle dust on it.

Her steps starting again, Thalia slowly brought out one of her hunting knives. She had left her spear in her tent, she didn't want it getting caught as she was weaving in and out of tents. The growling noise became more apparent as the wolf moved itself into a fighting stance, Thalia doing the same.

They danced around each other for a moment, daring the other to make a move first. Eventually, the wolf grew restless, and pounced.

It was a surprisingly quick encounter, as Thalia dropped and thrust her knife into the belly of the wolf, the blade slicing the soft underbelly as the wolf's momentum had it's body lurching forward. It hit the ground, whimpering feebly. Thalia ripped her knife out of it's stomach and silenced it. She wiped the blood on the wolf's fur and moved on.

For several minutes she weaved in and out of tents, crouching over the sleeping hunters and sprinkling a small amount of dust over their nose and mouth, keeping as silent as she could, thankful she had learned the ability to stay silent over the years, even as panic laced throughout her body with the shift or sneeze of a hunter.

Thalia let out a slow, relaxing breath some time later. Moving herself out of the last tent, she walked to the firepit, where the rings of tents had been set up to surround. She looked at the nearly empty container of dust in her hands, and decided to use the rest of it on the wolves she had initially decided to overlook. She had learned to be cautious in times when she believed she may not need it. Better to be careful. She had gained that knowledge the hard way.

She bit her lip as she moved closer to the sleeping mounds of fur. There were many, leading Thalia to believe she wouldn't have enough to cover them all, as they were spaced out of groups. Exhaling, Thalia decided she would save it. If certain hunters wanted to rebel, or if some wolves became reluctant, then she would use it. No need to waste it on wolves that would already obey orders.

She returned to the fire pit, standing on the scorch marks created in the grass from their dinner fire. She looked around herself, wondering what she was to do next. Would there be a point in waking her hunters now? When they would be tired and groggy from sleep? No. But it wouldn't do to let one of them wake and discover the dead wolf body. Thalia had guessed that the dust wouldn't take true effect until she had given them orders, and so she didn't want to give them a bigger chance to rebel.

With that thought in mind, Thalia disposed of the body and went to bed, concluding that the blood wouldn't be too noticeable in between the blades of grass.

When she awoke, it was a bit later in the day than she would have liked, but it was only an hour or so later than she usually woke up, so she supposed it didn't matter very much. It was a consequence of her late-night "adventure", but she didn't sleep so late as to arouse suspicion amongst her hunters.

Not that she needed to worry about that soon enough.

Yawning into the back of her hand _-weakness!-_ she met Pheobe at the pit, where she was stoking the fire for breakfast. She sat next to her, the dew-slickened grass wetting her uniform. She waited in silence for the rest of the hunters to gather, slowly gathering her wits about her as the fog of sleep left her mine. Eventually, everyone was present and eating. Thalia took her chance. She set her food next to her and stood. The Hunters looked to her silently.

"You will do as I say." Thalia said simply. She wanted as a glazed look overtook them for a mere moment, before it cleared.

"No shit Sherlock. We always do." A black-haired hunter spoke. She had a bored, suspicious look in her eyes, which were narrowed. "Why're you reminding us?" Thalia narrowed her own eyes in challenge. She had never liked her. She was rather pompous. Figures, she wouldn't be as influenced as the rest. Thalia marched over to her, taking a small amount of dust into her hand as she did. "What're you doing?" She asked wearily. Thalia did not answer her. She stopped in front of her, crouching to be on the same level.

Thalia threw the dust inter her face, watching as she flinched and coughed. "You will do as I say." Thalia spoke, voice strong, daring for any others to defy. They said nothing as she looked around them, proceeding to make her way back to the pit. "We will be staging an attack soon. It will not necessarily be an easy battle, so after you have finished your meal, prepare yourselves and your wolves, and come back here immediately. When everyone is gathered, we will discuss this further. And gather all the rope we have. Dismissed." Thalia called out. She sat once again, watching as her hunters quickly finished their meals and dispersed to their tents.

Thalia went to her own tent, putting on her proper battle gear, strapping all her weapons to her sides, a bottle of greek fire into her pocket and a few coils of rope over her shoulder.

Eventually, everyone was ready. Thalia gave a little smile as she looked at her hunters, ready for battle. "We will be attack Artemis. I shall summon her, and we will not give her a chance to respond. The wolves will attack, and you will immediately begin to shoot your bows. Aim for sensitive places. We are not taking her prisoner. After I pierce her with my spear, she will be stunned and we can immobilize her with the rope. Use all of it. She is a Goddess, and we are not to take chances. Am I understood?"

The hunters nodded. "Good. Gather your wolves, we are moving south of the tents, so that we won't be obscured." Thalia narrowed her eyes. "I want my hunters divided! A quarter of you to the north of the clearing, another quarter to the east, so on and so forth! Move it!" She shouted. Taking a moment to ensure none of her hunters would disobey, Thalia moved to the clearing. She only had to wait a moment. Soon, all her hunters were in a ring, wolves tensed, growling and ready in front of them.

Thalia used the medallion fastened into her crown to summon the Goddess, only to be used for absolute emergencies. "Be ready!" She called out. Not a moment later, a bright flash erupted. Before the light had enough time to fully dissipate, the wolves were launching. The first thing Thalia heard to confirm the battle were a startled shout and the whimpering of a wolf.

Her hunters did not hesitate. Arrows rained from the sky, all aimed towards the lightly armored Goddess. Thalia waited only a few moments, listening to the cries of rage from the dark-haired goddess, making sure she was properly distracted before launching her spear. The weapon lodged itself into Artemis' middle, sticking out of her stomach as it sliced through her back. Thalia felt if she had only gone a bit more to the right, she would have hit her spinal cord, but no matter.

Lightning coursed throughout the Goddess's body, making her convulse and twitch as her muscles tensed and locked into place. Her hunters knew what to do.

As wolves bit harshly into Artemis' arms, pinning her to the ground and driving the spear further through her body, the hunters rushed forward, quickly confining her with the special rope Artemis herself had given them, which could bind almost anything up to Fenris Wolf. The coils were wrapped around her quickly, and the battle was over before it had truly begun.

Artemis was trapped. Her body twitched with aftershocks as Thalia ripped the spear the rest of the way through her body, forcing the breath out of Artemis' lungs.

Thalia looked around at the damage. Only one hunter had died, a knife in her chest, but a few wolves had fallen to the ground, whilst a few more limped. She would have to replace those, but no matter

She turned back to the Goddess, stepping on the wound, causing ichor to spill out, staining her shoes and the grass. Artemis gave her a look so lethal Thalia almost backed up, but she said no words. Thalia brought out the bright green vial from her pocket, wordlessly spreading it onto Artemis. Only a few screams reverberated before silence overtook the hunters. Thalia walked away, collecting the knife from the fallen hunter chest, and calling for the rest to douse the fire and to get ready to leave.


	15. Chapter XV

_**Chapter XV**_  
 **Is That a Sword in Your Pocket or Are You-No? Okay, Ow, That Hurts**

Percy was bathing when Thalia IM'd him.

He didn't notice her at first, rinsing off his shampooed hair, suds running down his body when a voice coughed. Percy brushed shampoo away from his eyes and squinted. A misty image of Thalia floated, a foot away from his face. Her eyes were steadily cast on his face, slightly blank and glossy. Percy raised an eyebrow, closing his eyes once more and continuing to rinse off. He didn't know if Thalia would remember this when the dust wore off, _if_ the dust wore off, but that didn't really matter to him.

"You have something promising to report, I hope?" Percy began casually, running his hands through his hair.

"Artemis is dead." Thalia said monotonously. Percy raised an eyebrow.

"Is that so? When did you vanquish her?"

"Not a moment ago. My hunters are dousing the fire as we speak."

"Did you use all of it?"

"Yes. I wanted to be cautious."

"Good. Wait for my orders then, be ready to leave at a moment's notice. If you encounter anyone, don't be stupid, act like you're upset. I'll contact you when I have come up with our next line of action." Percy murmured, yawning as he poured body wash onto his loofa. Thalia gave him a short nod, slashing her hand through the image.

Percy squealed and jumped around once she was gone. He could feel Nightshade roaring in his chest, cheering alongside him. Percy quickly finished his shower, mindful that it was nearing curfew and that Jason would need the shower soon. He finished quickly, passing Jason on his way out. A playful smirk on his face, Percy shook his hair violently as he passed, splashing Jason. He heard Jason gasp in shock. Percy laughed, looking over his shoulder at a tense roman. Jason shook his head playfully, beginning to charge. Percy turned around and held his hand up, stopping Jason dead in his tracks.

"You wouldn't attack someone naked, would you?" Percy asked, smirk never leaving his lips. He watched as the emotions on Jason's face changed, from confusion, to embarrassment, to exasperation.

"I'll get you for that later, Jackson." Jason swore, a playful smile on his lips as he walked into the bathroom. Percy chuckled, getting ready for bed.

He awaited the screams. He knew they would be coming soon. Moments after Jason stepped into the shower, he heard them. Smiling, Percy looked down at himself. Shrugging, he grabbed riptide and ran out, shirtless as he had been in the middle of dressing. He came to a halt in front of the artemis cabin, capping riptide. Stunned campers stood about, not knowing what to do as the cabin erupted in bright flames. "Percy! Put it out!" Conner shouted. Percy blinked. Oh. He was the one that could do that, wasn't he?

Percy cast his eyes around, under of how to do this. Pull the water from the lake? The lake wasn't nearby, it might take more energy than necessary to pull it over. Pull water from the air? That would be difficult as well. Letting out a sigh no one else noticed, Percy tensed himself. He felt like Katara from The Last Airbender, a show he watched when he was with his mom when he was younger. The thought made him smile, but he let the expression drop. Streams of water, moving like snakes in the air, floated overhead, whizzing by to douse the flames that covered the entirety of the cabin. Other people ran around to get pails and buckets of water, while Percy did his best to transport it and quickly put out the ever-growing flames. Eventually, Jason appeared. He did what he could, flying back and forth to get large buckets of water, and grabbing buckets other people had gotten and letting them crash down from overhead. Soon enough, the whole cabin had been put out, but was little else than charred wood and ash.

Percy let himself droop to his knees. He wasn't tired, that had done nothing to him, but he didn't want many to necessarily know he was getting stronger, and how strong he already was. Jason landed softly besides him, putting an arm under Percy's and hoisting him up to stand. "C'mon Percy, you can do more than that, I'm sure." Jason said, a small, slightly worried smile on his face. Percy chuckled.

"You aren't wrong." Percy agreed, but neither leaned away from Jason, nor removed his arm. Instead, he leaned heavily on the other man, who easily took his weight.

"How much room his there in the Hermes and Hera cabin?" Jason called out. Campers exchanged looks.

"You know, my cabin isn't ruined. It's got beds. It's just a bit drafty, most likely. I just...really don't want to sleep in there." Percy murmured softly, causing Jason to lean down to hear him. Jason bit his lip.

"That's true…" Jason sighed. "Would you all be willing to sleep in the Poseidon cabin? It has beds." Jason called out. More looks were exchanged, many people looking over to the cabin. It had been cut in half completely, but the top half had only slid down around and inch. It was completely sturdy still, and useable. Reluctantly, nods were given. "Alright. If anything in there is retrievable, I suggest you get it, then head over quickly. Curfew is soon." Jason called out. Many groans and sighs were heard, but Percy didn't get a chance to continue looking at the campers, as Jason turned him around and began to fly slightly, a mere hover from the ground. Percy yelped, clinging to Jason tightly in fear, arms around his neck and legs somehow managing to wrap around his waist mid air. It wasn't anything to be scared of, but he hadn't been expecting it.

"You did that on purpose." Percy glared heatedly. Jason lost it, bursting out laughing as they flew swiftly back to the cabin.

"Told you I'd get you back." Jason smirked.

"Meanie." Percy grumbled. He held tighter to Jason, adoring the feeling of the body heat coming off him.

"Meanie? What are you, five?" Jason snorted.

"Mentally." Percy admitted, letting his feet reluctantly unwind as they touched the ground. He started to walk away, but Jason yanked him back, making Percy lean on him.

"I also did it because you seemed to have worn yourself out and it wouldn't be good to strain yourself further." Jason said as Percy opened his mouth, cutting him off. Percy rolled his eyes and allowed himself to be lead to his bed.

"My prince charming." Percy murmured as he laid down. He heard Jason give a nervously-toned chuckle, before the lights went out. He waited for awhile, tossing and turning in bed. After curfew had passed and Jason had fallen asleep, Percy snuck outside. He wanted to go for a walk. He hadn't gone outside after curfew without malicious intent in the time he had been at Camp Half-Blood, and he wanted to try something new. He made it out with no problem, not bothering to use Nightshade to make his way out. He could feel her unpleased ruffling, but he ignored her. He went straight for the forest, creeping around cabins to and making sure Terminiousesness didn't see him. He made it to the safety of a trail within the forest, letting out a breath when he was out of direct line of the camp. His shoulders relaxed, his breath became calm and steady, his head clearing from the slight headache he had been nursing all day. Nightshade even became silent, docile.

Percy continued to walk for almost an hour, just walking back and forth when the trail ended and reached the borders of the camp. He didn't plan on leaving any time soon, intending to stay out until the sun began to brush against the horizon. He enjoyed this immensely, and wasn't ready to leave. Unintentionally, his mind turned to Thalia. She and the Hunters were ready, prepared to lead whatever attacks he wanted them to, to kill whomever he requested. Now he just had to figure out what he wanted to do next, out of the complicated mess of plans in his head.

There were several things he could do. All of them eventually lead to a path of success, in one way or another. Percy just had to figure out which-  
"You shouldn't be out here." A soft voice spoke. Percy whirled around, hand lurching to his pocket and Nightshade shifting. The dainty figure hopped down from a tree, standing a few feet away from him, the only thing separating them being a few bushes.

"Juniper?" Percy whispered. He hadn't seen her in so long, since Grover. He had forgotten about her, as she wasn't someone he needed to worry about. Now, he could see, she looked awful. Dark bags hung low under her eyes, her hair being a knotted mess, not a single petal from the bunches of flowers she always wore in her hair in sight. Her skin was a sickly green color, unflattering and unappealing. Her eyes were dull, except for the heated glare that was directed at him.

"Leave, Jackson. Get out of my forest." Juniper ordered, a growl in her voice.

"Juniper, what's-"  
"You have no regard for anyone, do you, Percy?" Juniper cut him off. "You've changed. You aren't good anymore. I can sense it."

"I don't know-"

"Leave my forest, Percy Jackson. You do not belong here. You don't belong anywhere." She whispered, walking backwards, voice growing faint. Eventually, she disappeared in the pitch blackness of the night. Percy quickly walked back to the cabin, not bothering to stop and see the damage to the Artemis cabin that there would surely be, as he had planned to before. He laid down quietly, troubled. It took him an hour of tossing and turning to finally fall into a restless sleep, Juniper's words echoing in his mind on a repeated loop.

The next day, Percy still couldn't shake the chilling feeling of forebode. It clawed at him, sinking it's teeth into his skin and latching on, refusing to release him. He tried to go about his morning normally, unable to stay truly focused on his surroundings, even as he trained or conversed with any of his fellow campers. He dimly noticed Jason almost _hovering_ over him, and Percy could only assume it was because of his 'weak' act yesterday, and with how reluctant he had been to wake up that morning. Every once in awhile Percy or even Leo would make a joke about his hovering, but he would just brush it off with a smile and a laugh, a small blush occasionally decorating his neck. Eventually, Percy was able to take his mind off the incident, but was never able to fully shake off the sense of dread that nagged the back of his mind, that made Nightshade restless. He was able to quieten the two to a certain degree, and by the time night came along, Percy fell asleep almost soundly, listening to the sound of Jason's steady breathing.

Several hours later, Percy awoke, a searing pain in his stomach. Percy gasped, eyes opening as he heard a pained scream. "Nightshade, stop!" Percy shouted. Nightshade had lashed out on her own again, Percy could feel it. He could feel her rage, could feel how enraged she was that someone tried to hurt him. She snarled at him, the first sound he had ever heard her made, but he coughed up blood and repeated the order weakly, staring down at the figure on the ground.

"Percy?" Jason called out, having been woken up. The figure on the ground screamed again as Nightshade slashed him, before she vanished. Percy grabbed Riptide, clutching the wound in his middle. "Percy!" Jason shouted, jumping up. Percy couldn't see him, but he heard Jason's intake of breath, his footsteps stuttering. He felt Jason's hands on his shoulders, pushing him back onto the bed from his half-sitting position, and pulling his hands away from his wound. "Percy, you have to let me see the wound." Jason ordered, but Percy refused to move his hands.

"This is nothing, I'll live, take care of him." Percy coughed. The pain and confusion clouded his brain heavily. He was supposed to be immortal. Why was this happening? Why did it hurt so much? Why could he feel his own blood drenching his fingers?

"Percy, you are not oka-"

"I'm immortal stupid! Restrain him before he gets up!" Percy glared at Jason through his blurry vision. He could see the blond biting his lip, thinking, before he finally stood with a jerky motion. Percy dropped his sword, using his hand to cover his wound atop the other. He didn't watch as Jason hauled the groaning figure on the ground up, ignoring the ichor covering his hands from the wound that had been slashed across his upper torso.

Pain wracked his system. How was that possible? He shouldn't have been able to be injured in such a way. He didn't feel very immortal at the moment. He attempted to listen for Jason over the sound of his own labored breathing, but Nightshade fighting valiantly within his mind to be released, to be able to kill the person who had dared hurt him, distracted him over all else. He spent all his will on forcing her down. She needed to restrain herself. She needed to be reminded only to attack when he told her to.

 _You need to listen to me. You need to listen for orders._ Silence met him. He sighed. He heard the door open, finally able to divert his attention from Nightshade. Jason walked in, Leo and Will in tow. Will immediately moved to his knees next to Percy's bedside, shoving ambrosia in his face.

"Eat." He ordered. Percy didn't hesitate. Percy finally let his hands fall to his sides, letting Will treat him. He looked to Jason, who was worriedly biting his lip, to Leo, who was shuffling around.

"Why'd you bring Leo?" Percy asked weakly, ignoring Will when he told him to be quiet.

"Percy. Did you see who attacked you? Besides, we're the ones running the camp, so I thought we should all be here to make the decision. Even if it was just some normal camper, you got _stabbed_ , Percy. And obviously it wasn't a normal weapon if it hurt you like this." Jason said, running his tongue over his scar as he finished, a small habit Percy had noticed he used when he was stressed. "Is he going to be okay?" Jason asked, a small pause in between his sentences that was hardly noticeable.

"I'll be fine." Percy said, stressing the words as Will glared at him. "I've suffered a lot worse. Ask Will." Percy gave a small smile. Will snorted, shaking his head.

"You're only alive because of me."

"That's true."

"How many times have you almost died in my infirmary?"

"A lot." Percy admitted, laughing slightly. Will gave off his own small smile. Leo chuckled, but Jason only looked even more concerned. "Chill out. What'd you do with him, anyways?"

"Hog tied him up with some of the rope that was salvaged from the Artemis cabin, stuck him in a chair in the Big House, knocked him out." Jason answered, a savage smile on his face. Leo snorted at the look.

"Protective, much?"

"He tried to kill Percy in his sleep, Leo."

"You aren't wrong."

Jason rolled his eyes. "How's it coming, Will?"

"Almost done, stop your mother henning. And back up, I can't work with someone breathing down my neck. Percy, I'm gonna need you to sit up so I can wrap your torso." Will said. Percy gave him an exasperated look. Rolling his eyes when Will shrugged, Percy moved his arms to push himself up, but suddenly there were strong hands grabbing his shoulders and propping him up. Seeing Jason look down at him worriedly filled his stomach with butterflies. Percy fought a smile, but soon he didn't have to as he winced in pain. Soon he was propped up, Will wrapping a bandage of sorts around his torso for several minutes, making sure to cover the whole wound and to overlap it several times. It was a slash, almost half a foot long, going down slightly diagonally from around his diaphragm to below his navel. It didn't look very pretty, but Will had patched it up decently.

"Do you think you can walk over to the Big House so we can talk to him?" Leo asked as Will stepped away.

"I don't think he should be walking just yet." Will said.

"He wont be. I'll carry him. Percy, will you be okay around him?" Jason asked. Percy gave a small smile.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about me. And do I have to be carried?" Percy looked to Will. _I mean, I'd love to be carried by Jason again, hopefully in a proper bridal style, but, you know. Tough guy act._ Percy gave a small, mental sigh. Nightshade was finally calming down fractionally, which was a relief.

"If you're going to go interrogating the guy who attempted to murder you, then yes, you should be carried, and you should not be allowed to sit or stand on your own. You might go into shock." Will said.

"Not a problem." Jason said.

"Yeah, alright." Percy heaved a dramatic, playful sigh. Jason gave a small smile, while Leo and Will rolled their eyes at them. Jason picked Percy up gently, mindful of his wound. He walked easily to the door, as though Percy weight nothing. Percy winced occasionally, the jostling of Jason's footsteps disturbing the wound. Jason noticed almost immediately, and as soon as they were outside Jason changed to a very small hover.

"Why don't you two fuck already?" Leo asked from the back. While Jason spluttered, blushing, Percy smiled at Leo over Jason's shoulder.

"We have been." Percy smiled widely. Leo burst out laughing while Jason spluttered.

"That isn't true!" Jason said, looking at Percy with an affronted expression. Percy pouted.

"Aw," was all he said. Jason didn't know how to respond, instead looking ahead steadily while Percy laughed and stared at the blush on Jason's face.

They arrived at the Big House, half of it still caved on itself. They had removed Chiron's body some time ago, giving him a grand pyre that the centaur deserved. Still, no one went near it. No one wanted to walk by the place where Chiron had died.

"We should have the campers fixing this. Or at least turning what's not ruined into bed areas." Percy murmured sadly. Jason and Leo gave shallow agreements. They walked in, Jason transitioning gently back to walking, holding Percy close to him as he went up the stairs. Leo opened the door and walked in first. They only had to walk a few feet to reach the man who had attacked Percy.

Terminous smiled at them from where he was bound to the chair, covered in ichor from the wound in his torso, much more severe than Percy's.


End file.
